Brussels, Oct.7 (ANI): U.S. Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta has said that NATO war planes will keep flying on combat missions across Libya till the war between the provisional government's fighters and forces loyal to deposed leader Moammar Gaddafi continues.
"If there continues to be serious fighting, if there continues to be threats to the civilian population, then I'm sure this mission will continue," the Los Angeles Times quoted Panetta as telling reporters after two days of meetings with defense chiefs and military commanders at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization headquarters in Brussels.
During the talks, U.S. and French officials pushed to sustain the air war at least until rebel fighters capture Surt, Gaddafi's hometown.
Other NATO members privately urged a quicker halt to the operation, arguing that the alliance had essentially achieved its mission of protecting Libyan civilians, even if fighting continues in scattered pockets.
Some nations are worried about the mounting expense of the air war, which began March 19. But those concerns were largely papered over in public this week.
NATO has sharply scaled back its air strikes in recent weeks, in part because fewer targets are available in the shrinking areas where fighting still is underway.
Meanwhile, Surt seems likely to fall soon.
"It's clear that the end is in sight," NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said at a news conference. But he added that NATO would pursue its operation "as long as the threat persists." (ANI)
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