Washington, Mar.23 (ANI): US, Britain and France have agreed to hand over control of military operations in Libya to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
US President Barack Obama agreed with his French counterpart Nicholas Sarkozy and UK Prime Minister David Cameron to give political oversight to a separate body made up of coalition members, including Arab countries like Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, which are outside NATO.
In a statement, the slyse Palace said: "The two presidents have come to an agreement on the way to use the command structures of NATO to support the coalition."
"The prime minister and the president agreed that good progress had been made in NATO on command and control of military operations, that NATO should play a key role in the command structure going forward, and that these arrangements now needed to be finalized," The Guardian quoted the spokesperson, as saying.
Sarkozy had earlier tried to persuade Britain to set up an Anglo-French command for all military operations in Libya. That idea was strongly resisted by Britain, which said NATO was best placed to run military operations.
According to diplomatic sources progress on the new agreement emerged as France and Turkey started to give ground. France softened its stance after Britain and the US agreed that the international coalition would have political oversight but that NATO would have to assume military control.
The council will hold its third meeting to discuss the agreement. All 28 NATO members will have to agree on the proposal. (ANI)
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