NATO chief in surprise visit to Libya

TRIPOLI (AFP) - NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen made a surprise visit to Libya on Monday, on the last day of the alliance air mission that played a major role in toppling veteran dictator Moamer Kadhafi.

Seven months after Western powers fired the first barrage of missiles against Kadhafi forces, Rasmussen landed in Tripoli for talks with the new rulers in Libya, the National Transitional Council (NTC).

He arrived in a C130 transport plane escorted by two French mirage fighter jets, an AFP correspondent who travelled with him said.

The visit marks the first ever to Libya by a NATO secretary general.

The trip comes three days after NATO allies confirmed a decision to end the mission, declaring that the 28-nation alliance had fulfilled its UN mandate to protect civilians from a brutal repression.

Rasmussen told AFP that in his talks he would ask NTC leaders, including chairman Mustafa Abdel Jalil, "about their expectations as regards Libya's future and in particular their roadmap for transition to democracy."

The other major theme, he added, "will be their expectations as regards possible NATO assistance in the future."

"Tonight at midnight Operation Unified Protector will end. But we have also clearly stated that if the new political leadership in Libya so requests, NATO stands ready to help them in their transformation to a democracy," Rasmussen said.

For instance, he said, NATO could help could be given "when it comes to defence and security reform."

"(But with) no NATO troops on the ground, I don't foresee a major NATO role. It's now for the United Nations to take the lead of the international assistance to the new authorities in Libya," the NATO secretary general told AFP.

An alliance official said last week some allies could offer to provide the NTC help in "air space management" and to control borders, but it would be outside the NATO umbrella.

The no-fly zone and naval blockade, enforced by NATO since March 31, will end at 11:59 pm Libyan time (2159GMT), as stipulated by a UN Security Council resolution last week that closed the mandate authorising military action.

Operation Unified Protector was terminated even though Abdel Jalil had asked for the alliance to stay until the end of the year, warning that Kadhafi loyalists still posed a threat.

But NATO deemed that civilians were safe from attacks after the new regime declared the country liberated following Kadhafi's death and the fall of his hometown of Sirte on October 20.

Western strikes helped tip the balance of power in Libya's conflict, preventing Kadhafi from crushing a revolt that erupted in mid-February.

The bombing raids stopped Kadhafi forces from marching into the rebel eastern city of Benghazi in February and pulverised the strongman's air force.

The conflict then appeared headed into a stalemate as the ill-trained rebel forces struggled to fight their way west towards Tripoli. But with NATO destroying thousands of military targets, the NTC eventually took the capital in August, sending Kadhafi into hiding.

While NATO has steadfastly denied targeting Kadhafi during the campaign, it was an alliance air strike that hit his convoy as it fled Sirte, leading to his capture and killing on October 20. The alliance says it did not know he was in the convoy.

Facing global criticism over Kadhafi's death, the NTC vowed last week to bring Kadhafi's killers to justice in a sharp break with their previous insistence he was caught in the crossfire with his own loyalists.

A coalition led by the United States, France and Britain launched the first salvos in the air war on March 19, before handing over command of the mission to NATO on March 31.

The alliance, joined by Arab partners Qatar and United Arab Emirates, flew some 26,000 sorties and destroyed almost 6,000 targets during the conflict.