NATO Insists It’s Not Targeting Gadhafi
NATO insisted Thursday it was not targeting Moammar Gadhafi or coordinating with Libyan rebels, after Britain's defense secretary said the alliance was helping to hunt down the elusive leader.
"No specific individual is a target as an individual, whether it's Gadhafi or anybody else," NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu told Agence France Presse when asked about British Defense Secretary Liam Fox's comments that the alliance was providing intelligence and reconnaissance assets in the search for Gadhafi.
She said NATO was conducting operations "in full accordance" with its U.N. mandate to protect the Libyan population from attacks.
"It's important that NATO remains vigilant, and we are absolutely determined to continue our mission as long as it takes to get the job done," she said.
"There are always NATO planes over Libya, that's 24/7, and we continue to monitor the situation including through surveillance and reconnaissance," she said.
She added: "As matter of policy we do not comment on intelligence matters."
NATO has repeatedly denied targeting Gadhafi since Western warplanes began bombing Libyan regime forces in March and has always rejected claims that it was serving as the rebels' proxy air force.
"There is no military coordination with the rebels," Lungescu said.
"We have also said that it's for the people of Libya to decide the fate of Gadhafi and remnants of his regime," she said.
Asked whether the NATO response to Fox's comments were contradictory, she said: "It's not contradictory because we've been saying we do not target individuals."
Fox told Sky News earlier that the alliance was helping track down Gadhafi, whose whereabouts are unknown since rebels stormed into Tripoli on Sunday.
"I can confirm that NATO is providing intelligence and reconnaissance assets to the NTC (National Transitional Council) to help them track down Colonel Gadhafi and other remnants of the regime," who fled before advancing rebel forces on Tuesday, he told Sky News.
The British Ministry of Defense said Fox was referring to "various assets such as military planes."
Fox refused however to confirm reports that Britain's SAS special forces were working with the Libyan rebels to track down Gadhafi.
Lungescu reiterated that NATO has no forces on the ground in Libya under its command.
"We never have, don't at the moment and won't in the future," she said.
Source: Agence France Presse
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