Nato boss: We'll get more warplanes

Nato’s secretary general has said he expects member nations to provide extra ground-attack aircraft soon to strike Muammar Gaddafi’s forces in Libya.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen’s comments came despite no concrete commitments emerging from a two-meeting summit of the alliance.

Nato’s top military commander, US Navy admiral James Stavridis, has said there is a growing need for precision attack aircraft to avoid civilian casualties as Gaddafi’s forces camouflage themselves and hide in populated areas to avoid Western air strikes.

American officials said the commander was looking for about eight to 10 additional planes.

In an interview following the two-day meeting, Mr Fogh Rasmussen refused to confirm that number and would not comment on what specific types of planes were needed, but said he was confident that military commanders would get the additional resources soon.

“What we need is a small number of precision aircraft fighters and without going into details, I’m hopeful that nations will step up to the plate,” he said, noting that the two-day Berlin meeting was not held to solicit new pledges of support.

“I think all Nato allies realise that of course the operation must be fully resourced.”

The need for the additional aircraft had come as the situation had changed on the ground, Mr Fogh Rasmussen said.

“At the beginning we targeted fixed military capacities on the ground - gradually we have moved into targeting moving targets like tanks, armoured vehicles and other military capacities,” he said.

“We have also seen Gaddafi change his tactics into using civilian vehicles, hiding tanks and armoured vehicles in the cities, using human shields and all that makes it necessary to gradually adapt our tactics.”

The alliance is struggling to overcome differences over the Libya mission, with Britain and France seeking more strikes by other Nato nations, particularly the US

The US says it sees no need to change what it calls a supporting role in the campaign – even though it has still been flying a third of the missions – and many other Nato nations have rules preventing them from striking Gaddafi’s forces except in self-defence.

Mr Fogh Rasmussen downplayed the Nato divisions, pointing out that many alliance nations have had country-specific caveats for years in Afghanistan.

“Our military operations are based on the principle that it is for each individual nation to make a decision as to how their military assets can be used - it’s actually a fundamental principle of Nato,” he said.

“Obviously from a military point of view our commanders would like a maximum of flexibility in the use of their military assets, but we’re used to dealing with that.”

Nato air strikes in Libya began three weeks ago, aimed at protecting civilians from attacks from forces loyal to Gaddafi.

US, British and French leaders pledged in a joint statement to maintain the military campaign until Gaddafi leaves office – something Mr Fogh Rasmussen said Nato fully supported.

French defence minister Gerard Longuet said the joint statement suggested movement beyond a United Nations authorisation paving the way for the Nato-led use of force only to protect Libyan civilians.

The current UN resolution “does not address the future of Gaddafi”, Mr Longuet said in Paris. “Perhaps one day the Security Council will make another resolution.”

But he told LCI TV that he would expect Russia and China to “drag their feet” on such a resolution.

Meanwhile troops loyal to Gaddafi unleashed heavy shelling on Misrata yesterday, pushing troops and tanks into the rebel-held western city, a witness said. Elsewhere in Libya, Nato warplanes struck Gaddafi’s home town of Sirte in the east, Libyan TV said.

Rebels in Misrata claimed Gaddafi’s forces had been using cluster bombs, which pose particular risk to civilians because they scatter small bomblets over a wide area.

New York-based Human Rights Watch reported yesterday that such munitions were used, saying its researchers inspected remnants and interviewed witnesses.

Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim denied the use of cluster bombs. “Absolutely not,” he said when asked about the allegations. “We can never do this. We challenge them to prove it.”

US secretary of state Hillary Clinton said of the cluster bomb reports: “I have to say I am not surprised at anything that Col Gaddafi and his forces do, but that is worrying information and it is one of the reasons why the fight in Misrata is so difficult.

“It is at close quarters, it is in amongst urban areas and it poses a lot of challenges to both Nato and to the opposition.”