NATO Now in Full Control of Libya Mission

BRUSSELS - NATO on March 31 warned Libyan forces they would be "ill-advised" to kill civilians as the alliance took sole command of air strikes that were under U.S. leadership.

Libyan rebels drive toward the city of Brega on March 31, en route to a battle with forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. (Mahmud Hams / Agence France-Presse)

An armada of ships and warplanes from the United States, France, Britain, Canada and other coalition nations came under NATO control after the 28-nation military organization overcame internal divisions to take over the mission.

U.S., British, French, Canadian, Danish and Belgian jets have attacked Moammar Gadhafi's ground forces since March 19 under a U.N. mandate to use "all necessary measures" to protect civilians.
Canadian Lt. Gen. Charles Bouchard, commander of Operation Unified Protector, said NATO aircraft had flown 90 missions since the alliance took charge at 0600 GMT March 31.
"Those who are acting against the civilian population and civilian centers, you would be ill-advised to continue such activities, I recommend that you cease these activities," Bouchard told reporters via video link from his headquarters in Naples, Italy, stressing that NATO would remain "impartial."
The United States, already stretched after a decade of combat in Afghanistan and a fragile situation in Iraq, had been eager to hand over control of the operations to someone else.
NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the alliance will be able to declare "mission accomplished" when "the civilian population in Libya is not under threat any longer."
But he acknowledged it was impossible to know when this would happen, and he stressed that a political solution, not just military means, was needed to resolve the conflict.
"I urge all parties to seek a political decision sooner rather than later and ensure a political transition to democracy. But I'm not able to lay out a timetable," he said at a conference in Stockholm.
The alliance stressed it would stick to the U.N. mandate to shield civilians, as Rasmussen reiterated his opposition to arming the rebels.
The head of NATO's military committee, Italian Adm. Giampaolo Di Paola, said there was no discussion about deploying troops. He also denied that NATO was coordinating its operations with the rebels.
Asked about reports that the CIA was on the ground in Libya, Di Paola said NATO does not question the source of intelligence it receives from allies.
Di Paola said he expected some 20 NATO allies to provide assets for one or all three operations under alliance control - the strikes on ground forces threatening civilians, a no-fly zone, and an arms embargo.
But key NATO members have voiced unease about the bombing missions.
Bouchard vowed that NATO pilots would conduct their missions "with care and precision" in order to "avoid harming the people of Libya."
The general launched a probe into allegations made by a Tripoli-based Italian bishop that dozens of civilians were killed during coalition bombings.
No date was given for the incident, which could not be independently verified.
Turkey, NATO's sole Muslim member, criticized the scope of the coalition strikes and has made clear its planes would not take part in any airstrikes.
Another major NATO member, Germany, refused to vote for the U.N. Security Council resolution that authorized the use of force and will stay out of the offensive operations.
The Netherlands has contributed planes but they will only participate in maintaining a no-fly zone to prevent hostile jets from flying, not the strikes against other targets.
NATO wants to bring outside partners into the mission, especially Arab nations. Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are the only Middle Eastern nations to have provided jets.
Sweden, a NATO partner but not member, offered fighter jets but said it would not conduct ground strikes.

Pakistan Extends Tenure of Military Intelligence Chief

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan said April 1 it had given the chief of the country's powerful military spy agency an extra year in the job after he had been set to retire.
Lt. Gen. Ahmad Shuja Pasha, who was appointed chief of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) - involved in combating al-Qaida and the Taliban - in 2008, had been due to retire from service last month.

"A one year extension has been given" to the ISI chief, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said on the phone-in program "Prime Minister Online" on state-run Pakistan Television, adding it was granted to ensure continuity.
"He (Pasha) is an intelligent person," he said. This is the second one-year extension the ISI head has received.
In July last year, Gilani extended the tenure of army chief Gen. Ashfaq Kayani by three years.
Pasha is considered close to the relatively reformist Kayani, who previously ran the ISI until October 2007 before assuming command of the army from former President Pervez Musharraf a month later. Musharraf stepped down amid international pressure to end his eight years of military rule.
In theory, the ISI works under the control of the prime minister, but in practice its functions are mainly run by Pakistan's pervasive security establishment.
ISI has been at the centre of concerns among western allies that it is either turning a blind eye to militants in Pakistan's troubled tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, or even actively sponsoring the rebels.
The shadowy spy agency is feared at home for playing a central, although covert political role. Pakistan has spent more than half its 62-year history under military rule.

Fire-Detection Radar Sale to Iraq Proposed

The Pentagon has told Congress that it wants to sell up to $300 million worth of fire-detection radars to Iraq, according to a Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) notice.
If approved by lawmakers, the sale would include six AN/TPQ-36(V)10 Firefinder radars, 18 AN-TPQ-48 Lightweight Counter-Mortar radars, parts, training and logistical support, according to the DSCA notice. DSCA is the arm of the Pentagon that notifies lawmakers of proposed foreign military sales.

The Firefinder, built by Northrop Grumman and Thales Raytheon Systems, is a ground-based radar that detects medium-range mortars, artillery and rocket launchers, according to a Raytheon fact sheet. The U.S. Army and Marine Corps use the system.
The Lightweight Counter-Mortar radar, built by Syracuse, N.Y.-based SRCTec, detects and locates mortar firing positions by tracking the mortar shell to the weapon it was fired from, according to a company fact sheet.
"The proposed sale of the Firefinder radars will advance Iraq's efforts to develop an integrated ground defense capability and to develop a strong and dedicated military force," the DSCA notice states. "The Firefinder radars will enable Iraq to assume some of the missions currently accomplished by U.S. and coalition forces and to sustain itself in its efforts to establish stability to Iraq."
Smith-Detection Technologies in Edgewood, Md., ITT Corp. and L-3 Communications would also supply equipment should the contract be approved.

French DM: Libyan Air Campaign May Allow Settlement

Paris - The coalition air campaign against Libya is fulfilling the U.N. Security Council resolution that seeks to protect civilians from the Tripoli government, French Defense Minister Gérard Longuet said March 31.
"The implementation of this resolution is working," Longuet told journalists here, "and it is working well."

"Use of massive military weapons against the civilian population is no longer being seen," he said. Therefore, Longuet said, work on a political settlement is possible.
The allied intervention prevented a government assault on Benghazi, center of Libya's pro-democracy resistance, which had carried the threat of attacks on the civilian population, he said.
Implementation of the U.N. resolution continued following the transfer of command and control to NATO from the previous ad hoc coalition, he said. The NATO structure, which acts under the political control of a "contact group," had supported 191 air missions, which included 84 ground attack or close air support missions on the previous day, Longuet said.
French Air Force and Navy aircraft have accumulated 1,600 flight hours in some 250 sorties since the Libyan intervention began March 19, Air Force Gen. Jean-Jacques Borel, head of planning and logistics at the military's center for planning and operations, said March 31. That represents about 20 percent to 25 percent of the coalition's effort, making France the second-largest contributor after the U.S. military, Borel said.
That is a "dense" level of activity Borel said, declining to say how many hours French pilots fly in a normal year. No details were given on the number of GBU-12 and armament air sol modulaire (AASM) smart munitions that have been used in Libya.
Longuet said military and political events are changing fast on the ground, and fighting is taking place mainly between light troops in close combat, making it difficult for the air campaign to identify and distinguish the adversaries.
As part of the air campaign, French Air Force and Navy Rafale and Super Etendard fighter jets were among the allied warplanes that struck a surface-to-air missile site on the night of March 29, about 100 kilometers south of Tripoli, a Joint Staff spokesman, Army Col. Thierry Burkhard, told journalists.
The strike destroyed Scud missiles and transport vehicles for missiles and tanks, a French defense official said.
The French aircraft also struck a number of armored vehicles, and on March 28, they destroyed an ammunition depot, Burkhard said.
Much of the Libyan fixed air defense sites had been destroyed, but there are many light, short-range, mobile anti-aircraft batteries and shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles that will never be eliminated, Burkhard said.
Six Mirage 2000-5 fighters sent by Qatar are flying joint air defense patrols from an air base in Crete with four French Mirages of the same type as part of the coalition effort, Burkhard said.
There were no operational details on the six Mirage 2000-9 and six F-16 Block 60 warplanes, based in Sardinia, that were sent by the United Arab Emirates.
As of March 30, of the 191 missions mounted by the coalition, U.S. forces had flown 100, or 52 percent; France flew 40, or 21 percent; and Britain flew 23, or 8 percent. Other allies who flew missions were the Netherlands, Denmark and Qatar, the French defense official said.

Pakistani army start exercise with Turkey and Afghanistan

Turkey, Pakistan and Afghanistan armies have begun a week-long trilateral joint military exercise at Tuzla, Turkey.

The countries decided to execute joint exercises at the conclusion of the 5th Trlateral Summit in December 2010, according to a statement from the Pakistan army’s Inter-Services Public Relations.

The joint exercises involve MOUT (Military operations in urban terrain) against terrorists.
Basic and battle order training, combat order, fighting in built-up, handmade explosives training and training controls are included in the event also.

Special teams of the three countries comprising sniper and anti-tank detachments undertook this exercise. According to the statement, the purpose of this training session is to share military knowledge and to strengthen the military coordination between the three countries.

NATO Starts Taking Control of Libya Operations

BRUSSELS - NATO on March 30 began to take command of Libyan air bombing operations from a U.S.-led coalition, as warplanes and other assets from several allies came under the military organization's control.

French Air Force Rafale jets, right and center, and a French Air Force Mirage 2000 fighter jet are shown March 30 over the Mediterranean Sea. The jets are taking part in the military Libya operations, soon to be led by NATO. (Gerard Julien / Agence France-Presse)

"NATO aircraft are flying under NATO command in the Libyan sky," NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said.

"This is a phased process, which will be completed as soon as all allies and partners have transferred authority for their assets."
The 28-member alliance is gradually replacing the United States at the helm of aerial missions that have been conducted by U.S., French, British and other coalition planes since March 19 to protect civilians from Moammar Gadhafi's ground forces.
Britain, Canada, Belgium, Denmark, Spain and the Netherlands placed all or part of their military assets under NATO's authority on March 30, an alliance official said on condition of anonymity.
NATO's combined air operations centre in Poggio Renatico, northern Italy, transmitted flight plans to units involved in the aerial campaign, the official said.
A NATO diplomat has said that the alliance would effectively be in full command of the operations on March 31.
NATO has enforced an arms embargo off Libya's coast since last week and also is policing Libya's skies to prevent hostile jets from flying.
NATO agreed to take on the broader mission - strikes against forces threatening civilians - on March 27 after overcoming Turkish concerns about the air strikes and French reluctance to hand the lead to the alliance.

Solution for Piracy 'Scourge' Remains Elusive

The international maritime community has worked together on a number of issues to beat back the threat from Somali-based pirates, a U.S. State Department official said March 30, yet the number of attacks continues to rise.
"We are intensely reviewing our anti-piracy efforts," Andrew Shapiro, assistant secretary for political-military affairs, told a Washington audience. "We are looking into many possible courses of action."

Shapiro ticked off several areas where the U.S. is searching for new or expanded actions.
"We must get a handle on the prosecution problem," he said. "The United States is now willing to consider pursuing some creative and innovative ways to go beyond ordinary national prosecutions, and enhance our ability to prosecute and incarcerate pirates in a timely and cost-effective manner."
In international forums, the U.S. is suggesting the creation of a "specialized piracy court or chamber" - in one or more regional states -to bring accused pirates to trial, Shapiro said, and is exploring ways "to expand incarceration capacity in the region."
The "lack of prison capacity is perhaps the most common reason nations decline to prosecute," he added, while the idea of a piracy court has been put forward in the Security Council at the United Nations.
A key focus, he said, is "to start targeting the higher financiers who are responsible" for the pirate gangs. "That is something we are going to make a priority."
"There are a lot of lessons to be learned from in the organized crime example that we think are applicable to pirates," Shapiro told a reporter after his address, sponsored by the International Institute for Strategic Studies. "The goal is to move the necessary resources and lessons learned to attack the people who are benefiting from this."
Shapiro noted the effectiveness of privately hired armed guards on board merchant ships in deterring the pirates. "Not a single ship employing armed guards has been successfully pirated," he said.
Ships declining to comply with recommended security measures are particularly at risk, Shapiro said. "About 20 percent of ships off the Horn of Africa are not taking proper security actions. These 20 percent account for the overwhelming number of pirated ships."
Ransom payments encourage pirates to continue their activities, Shapiro said. "We continue to urge against paying ransom," he said, noting it only "makes piracy an increasingly lucrative proposition."