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NATO states sought to bridge differences over their Libya mission as the alliance chief said he’s confident a request for more attack jets will be met even after the U.S. and France rejected deploying more planes.
“We have got indications that nations will deliver what is needed,” Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters after a meeting of foreign ministers today in Berlin. “So I’m hoping that we will get the necessary assets in the very near future.” He didn’t say which countries might supply the jets.
A request by Rasmussen yesterday for “a few more precision-fighter ground-attack aircraft” to target Muammar Qaddafi’s forces was immediately turned down by the U.S. and France as the Libyan leader was shown on state television pumping his fists in the air through the open sunroof of a silver SUV in Tripoli.
President Barack Obama, U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy jointly declared that allowing Qaddafi to remain in power “would be an unconscionable betrayal.”
“So long as Qaddafi is in power, NATO and its coalition partners must maintain their operations so that civilians remain protected and the pressure on the regime builds,” they wrote in a letter published in European newspapers today.

Oil Rebounds

Oil rebounded as U.S. consumer sentiment and industrial output increased, signaling higher fuel demand in the world’s biggest crude-consuming country. Crude oil for May delivery increased 33 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $108.44 a barrel at 10:14 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices are up 27 percent from a year ago and are heading for a weekly decline of 3.9 percent.
The limitations of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s air campaign have become evident as forces loyal to Qaddafi stepped up their assault today on Misrata, Libya’s third-largest city, and pressed their attack on rebels near the oil port city of Brega.
Al Jazeera television cited rebels as saying 20 people, including five Egyptians, were killed in Misrata last night by Qaddafi troops and that tanks bombarded the city today near the Kasr Ahmed district. More than 6,500 foreign nationals are stranded at Misrata’s port, the International Committee of the Red Cross said in an e-mailed statement.
Foreign ministers from NATO’s 28 member states and leaders from other allied nations met in Berlin to discuss the Libyan conflict. Only five NATO nations, led by France and the U.K, are known to be targeting Qaddafi’s ground forces. NATO member Germany, which hosted the meeting, has declined to send jets to serve in the Libya mission.

‘Stuck in the Sand’

German Deputy Foreign Minister Werner Hoyer warned that NATO’s Libya operations may become “stuck in the sand” and that if Qaddafi remains in control of a divided and failed state it would be “a nightmare.”
NATO leaders “are now realizing that this is not a very short mission,” Hoyer said in an interview today. “It takes much longer, it’s much more complicated, it’s much more demanding than some had expected.”
The call for more warplanes, which Rasmussen said wasn’t directed at a specific alliance member, came 10 days after the U.S. withdrew its ground-attack planes from civilian protection missions. U.S. and French officials said it’s now up to other allies to provide additional help. Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said France is already the biggest air-power contributor to the mission and can’t send more jets.
‘Europe’s Affair’
Libya is “Europe’s affair” and it’s understandable that the U.S. isn’t playing a leading role, French Defense Minister Gerard Longuet said in an interview on LCI Television. “The U.S. has two large obligations with Iraq and Afghanistan.”
The U.S. ended “strike missions” against Qaddafi’s army earlier this month, depriving NATO of warplanes such as A-10 “Warthogs” and AC-130 gunships, which can be more effective in ground-attack missions than higher-flying jet fighters. The U.S. continues to fly F-16 missions only against Libya’s dwindling air defenses, as well as providing a variety of support aircraft for refueling, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
Obama, Sarkozy and Cameron said that while the United Nations Security Council resolution authorizing military action to protect civilians doesn’t include overthrowing Qaddafi, “it is impossible to imagine a future for Libya with Qaddafi in power.”

Pressure Qaddafi Regime

“NATO and its coalition partners must maintain their operations so that civilians remain protected and the pressure on the regime builds,” the leaders wrote in the letter, which was published on the websites of the Times of London, Le Figaro and the International Herald Tribune.
NATO said in a statement yesterday that allies taking part in the conflict set three conditions for ending air strikes on Qaddafi’s forces: an end to all attacks by Qaddafi loyalists on civilians, withdrawing soldiers to bases, and allowing aid into the country.
Allies are struggling to overcome divisions on how to force Qaddafi’s exit, amid complaints by Britain, France and Libyan rebel commanders that NATO isn’t doing enough.
The splits are reflected in the fact that only 14 of the 28 NATO members -- along with non-NATO members Sweden, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates -- are participating in Operation Unified Protector to safeguard civilians.