US secretary of state Hillary Clinton will travel to London for a meeting on Libya next Tuesday as operational command shifts from the United States to Nato leadership, a US official said today.
The meeting, called by Britain and France, is intended to create a contact group to provide political guidance for the international response to the Libya crisis. Such a move could ease concerns among Arab and other countries about Nato being in charge.
Nato came closer to agreement today to take over command of allied military operations in Libya from the United States after days of sometimes heated wrangling with Turkey.
"Now there is an agreement in principle," Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu earlier told reporters.
"The operation will be transferred completely to Nato and there will be a single command and control."
His comments came after a four-way telephone conference between US secretary of state Hillary Clinton and the foreign ministers of Turkey, France and Britain.
However, Nato ambassadors were still negotiating on the arrangements in Brussels and diplomats said there was not yet full agreement.
US Vice Admiral Bill Gortney said in Washington that the United States was working very hard to hand over leadership of the coalition to another entity, possibly as early as this weekend.
A German government source said there was no deal yet on the command structure and the enforcing of a UN no-fly zone, and it might take until the end of the week.
"We have certainly made substantial progress but all that doesn't mean the secretary
general can walk out and make a statement saying there is an agreement," another Nato diplomat said. "Discussions could continue tonight and tomorrow."
Ambassadors agreed to initiate military planning for a no-drive zone to protect civilians in addition to the no-fly zone, diplomats said, but that would require a further political decision.
Earlier, Turkish leaders had cast new suspicions on the motives behind Western intervention in Libya, suggesting action was driven by oil and mineral wealth rather than a desire to protect civilians from Muammar Gadafy's forces.
US president Barack Obama, trying to extricate Washington from two wars in Muslim nations, Iraq and Afghanistan, has said Washington wants to hand over responsibility for the Libya campaign to Nato within days rather than weeks.
Mr Davutoglu said the organisation would take over as soon as possible, within a day or two. Nato officials have said it would take 72 hours after the directive is approved to activate the command.
Rebels in Misrata said they killed 30 government snipers today and that they had liberated the port from forces loyal to Col Gadafy, potentially opening up an aid lifeline to the besieged city.
Libya's government said it controlled the city, 200 km east of Tripoli, and blamed the fighting on al Qaeda affiliates.
"There were clashes today and our fighters managed to find a way to reach the snipers on rooftops and killed 30 of them," rebel spokesman Abdulbasset Abu Mzereiq said by telephone.
He said rebels had also blown up the staircases of buildings being used by other snipers, stranding them on the rooftops.
He said the rebels regained control of the port after Gadafy loyalists seized it yesterday, closing off Misrata's access to food and medical supplies and stranding thousands of African migrant workers who had been hoping to leave by sea.
"The warships and the boats are gone now and the coalition forces have informed the (rebel) council that they will secure a safe passage for ships that are coming from Malta carrying aid," the spokesman said, adding the aid was from Libyans living abroad.
Government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim told reporters in Tripoli: "In Misrata, we have total control of the city."
"Unfortunately, there is a hard core of violence. These people are al Qaeda affiliates, they are prepared to die, they want to die, because death for them is happiness, is paradise. They know they are going to die."
Western air strikes destroyed government tanks on the outskirts of Misrata late yesterday but tanks inside the country's third largest city have not been hit, the rebel spokesman said earlier.
"Some tanks on the coastal road were bombed last night at around 6 p.m. (1600 GMT) but the tanks inside the city, in the centre ... which were bombing the city, are still there and were not attacked," Abu Mzereiq said.
Reports from the city could not be verified independently because Libyan authorities have prevented journalists from going there and the severing of local phone lines have further complicated the ability to communicate with local residents.
The coalition enforcing the no-fly zone is, meanwhile, using "every tool we have available" to tell Libyan leader Col Gadafy's forces to cease fire and stop any attacks on civilians, Vice Admiral Bill Gortney said.
Asked whether any forces loyal to Col Gadafy had actually heeded the coalition's demands, Mr Gortney said, "I'm not aware of any at this time." He declined to specify how the coalition was communicating its message. "We're using every tool that we have available in our toolkit," he told reporters at the Pentagon.
Reuters