NATO watching Libya as no-fly zone demand intensifies

As the demand grew on Monday for a no-fly zone over Libya to prevent Muammar Gaddafi's air raids on protesters, NATO announced its early warning planes would be watching that nation 24/7 now on.

Updated on: Mar 8, 2011, 23:34:21 IST

Hindustan Times | By Anonymous, Washington

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As the demand grew on Monday for a no-fly zone over Libya to prevent Muammar Gaddafi's air raids on protesters, NATO announced its early warning planes would be watching that nation 24/7 now on.

There were reports UK and France were moving speedily towards a UNSC resolution in favour of a no-fly zone over Libya even as the US military led by secretary of defense Robert Gates warned off the pitfalls. The US on Monday added "military option" to the list of options on the table.

A no-fly zone, with all its attendant complications, seemed to be emerging as the weapon of choice for the western nations to scare Gaddafi into stepping down. There are no indications yet if it is working.

NATO, a US-led military alliance, met on Monday and decided to watch the situation in Libya closely.

"The decision was made to indeed increase the surveillance of the NATO-AWACS capability to make it 24/7, to have a better picture of what's really going on in this part of the world," said US ambassador to NATO Ivo Daalder.

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