NATO Takes Over No-Fly Zone in Libya

After days of hard bargaining among its members, NATO agreed late today to enforce the no-fly zone over Libya—but not other military operations yet. The agreement, announced in Brussels by the alliance's secretary-general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, will allow the United States to hand over command and control of part of the international operation, as it has been eager to do. But it appeared that some NATO members balked at supervising attacks on targets on the ground.

"At this moment there will still be a coalition operation and a NATO operation," Fogh Rasmussen said. "But we are considering whether NATO should take on the broader responsibility." Hillary Clinton said it was just a matter of time. She said the alliance eventually would protect Libyan civilians, enforce the UN arms embargo, and support humanitarian aid efforts. "All 28 allies have also now authorized military authorities to develop an operations plan for NATO to take on the broader civilian protection mission." (More Libya no-fly zone stories.)