14.04.2011, 10:37 5127

NATO foreign ministers to hold talks in Berlin

Foreign ministers from NATO countries will gather in Berlin to discuss operations over Libya, Kazakhstan Today reports.

Almaty. April 13. Kazakhstan Today - Foreign ministers from NATO countries will gather in Berlin to discuss operations over Libya, Kazakhstan Today reports.

Foreign ministers from Nato countries are due to meet in Berlin, with Libya at the top of the agenda, BBC News reported.

The UK and France have been pushing for other countries to increase the military pressure on Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.

Airstrikes led by the US, France and Britain began last month. Nato has since taken leadership of the mission.

Ahead of the Berlin talks, the "contact group" on Libya issued a statement calling on Col Gaddafi to stand down.

The BBC's Stephen Evans reports from Berlin that foreign ministers will be trying to find a coherent strategy whilst holding different views over what the role of armed force from outside should be.

Tasks in the Libya mission include policing the arms embargo with ships and enforcing the no-fly-zone, which involves flying but not attacking targets on the ground.

The UK and France want more countries involved in the most aggressive role, that of attacking targets on the ground, with the obvious candidates being Italy and Spain, our correspondent says.

The US has scaled back its role in Libya, though on Wednesday it clarified that US jets were still carrying out bombing raids on Libya's air defences.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is due to attend the meeting in Berlin, condemned the Gaddafi regime's "continued brutal attacks on the Libyan people".

Rebel leaders said that Washington should reverse its decision to step back from offensive operations in Libya and once again take part in ground attacks, The Telegraph reported.

Meeting in Paris, David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy of France called on Nato allies to "increase the momentum" of the military intervention in Libya.

William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, hinted that the Americans should deploy more firepower, saying: "It would improve the situation if we had that greater ground strike capability overall."

After leading the first stage of the Libyan intervention, the US earlier this month withdrew its forces from offensive operations, ceding control to Nato and its Arab allies.

Britain, France and the rebels are increasingly frustrated that neither other Nato allies nor the Arab states are prepared to attack Gaddafi's forces, insisting they will only help enforce a no-fly zone.

With Britain and France bearing the burden of the ground attack operation, there are fears that the allies lack the military force to shake the Libyan regime.

Mahmoud Shamman, a spokesman for the Benghazi-based Transitional National Council, said the Nato had allowed Col Gaddafi to regain the initiative on the battlefield since it took over from the US.

"When the Americans were involved the mission was very active and it as more leaning toward protecting the civilians," he said. "Nato is very slow responding to these attacks on the civilians. We'd like to see more work toward protecting the civilians."

Photo: HiffingtonPost

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