22/10/2011 12:17
NATO will officially end its seven-month operation in Libya
NATO will officially end its seven-month operation in Libya on 31 October, its governing North Atlantic Council has said.
The NATO secretary-general Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said late on Friday that the 31 October end would be confirmed formally next week. Diplomats said NATO air patrols would continue over Libya for the next nine days as a precautionary measure to ensure the stability of the new regime – gradually reducing assuming there were no further outbreaks of violence, the Guardian reports.
The council took into account the wishes of Libya's new government and of the United Nations, under whose mandate NATO carried out its operations.