NATO commander will recommend ending the Libyan mission.
Admiral James Stavridis said on his Facebook page that he would recommend ending the seven-month operation in the country; NATO's decision would also take into account the wishes of the Libyan interim government.
The top military commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), US Admiral James Stavridis, said he will recommend ending the seven-month operation in Libya. Stavridis made the announcement on his Facebook page shortly before the Atlantic alliance's meeting in Brussels on Friday with military representatives from NATO's 28 countries.
"As supreme allied commander, I will recommend the completion of the operation within a few hours," Stavridis wrote. "A great day for NATO, an excellent day for the people of Libya."
The NATO council's decision will depend on Stavridis' recommendation, but will also take into account the wishes of Libya's interim government and the United Nations, which granted NATO the mandate to bomb the forces of the late ruler Muammar Gaddafi.
Earlier, NATO said its commanders were unaware that Gaddafi was in the convoy attempting to flee Sirte. In a statement, NATO said its fighter jets attacked a convoy of 75 vehicles attempting to escape the city, which was already under final assault by Libyan interim government forces. One vehicle was destroyed in the bombing, leading to the dispersal of the convoy.
Another fighter jet attacked approximately 20 vehicles from the original convoy traveling at high speed towards the desert in the south, destroying or damaging 10 vehicles.
"Later we learned, from intelligence sources, that Gaddafi was in the convoy and that the fighter jet attack contributed to the capture of the former ruler," said a NATO statement. After former Libyan rebels assassinated Gaddafi yesterday, NATO officials said they expected the operation to end quickly. Some air patrols may be maintained for a few more days until the situation in western Libya stabilizes.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the end of the campaign "is very near." He also praised the success of Operation Protective Shield, which followed Operation Odyssey Dawn, authorized by the United Nations at the end of March.
NATO fighter jets and bombers annihilated Gaddafi's army. They carried out 26 flights, including 9 attack and bombing missions. They destroyed Libya's air defenses and more than a thousand tanks, military vehicles, and anti-aircraft batteries, as well as the former ruler's command and control networks. The systematic bombings broke the stalemate between rebel forces and Gaddafi's regular army, allowing insurgents to advance from the Nafusa Mountains, near the Tunisian border, towards Tripoli in August, which fell at the end of the month. This information comes from the Associated Press.