Western nations agreed to use NATO to drive military effort in Libya

PanARMENIAN.Net - Western nations waging an air campaign in Libya agreed to use NATO to drive the military effort but lack the backing of all alliance members and are divided on the mission's leadership.

U.S. President Barack Obama, hoping to hand over U.S. command of Libya operations to allies within days, agreed with British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy that NATO would play a key role, the White House said.

But the allies stopped short of endorsing NATO political leadership of the mission, which would be difficult for alliance member Turkey to accept and undercut shaky Arab support for the effort to protect Libyans from Muammar Gaddafi's forces.

France has called for a "political steering body" including Arab countries to take charge of the no-fly zone operation.

A NATO official said the fact the 28-nation alliance had agreed on a detailed operations plan for a no-fly zone was significant. "However, that doesn't take into account the political reality of having to reach agreement on whether to execute it," the official said.

France, which launched the first strikes on Libya, has argued against a prominent role for NATO, citing the U.S.-dominated alliance's poor reputation in the Arab world. Turkey has said the air strikes have already gone beyond what had been sanctioned by the U.N. Security Council.

Other NATO states, most vocally Italy, say NATO should either have command or no role at all, Reuters reports.