Nato nations are expected to decide this afternoon to phase out the alliance's Libyan air and sea mission following the death of Muammar Gadafy and the fall of his last strongholds, alliance officials and diplomats said.
Nato has been conducting air strikes, enforcing a no-fly zone and maintaining an arms embargo with naval patrols since March 31st, in a UN-mandated operation to protect civilians.
A decision to gradually wind down the mission was expected to be taken at a meeting of ambassadors of the 28 Nato members in Brussels this afternoon, based on recommendations from Nato military commanders, alliance officials and diplomats said.
"It's likely they will decide to end the operation, but they will probably decide to do that over the next two weeks or so," one Nato diplomat said.
A Nato official said that at least some air operations would be maintained for the time being. "Certainly surveillance will continue as we need to continue to monitor the situation," the official said.
Nato officials said the decision would take into account the ability of Libya's interim authorities to maintain security. On Wednesday, Nato ambassadors put off a decision because of caution by countries such as Britain and France, which have been at the forefront of the military intervention.
Earlier today French president Nicolas Sarkozy said the death of Gadafy yesterday meant Nato's action had reached its conclusion. "Clearly the operation is coming to its end," he told reporters.
Earlier, French foreign minister Alain Juppe told Europe 1 radio that Nato's military intervention was now over, but he added France would assist the interim authorities in the transition to a democratic government.
British foreign minister William Hague said yesterday Gadafy's death brought the end of the operation "much closer", but added: "I think we will want to be sure there are not other pockets of pro-Gadafy forces still able to threaten the civilian population."
United States president Barack Obama said yesterday Nato's mission would end "soon" and a senior Canadian official said Canada's participation would end within two weeks. He said Gadafy's death was a vindication of his brand of coalition-based global leadership as allied officials also expressed satisfaction with the outcome in Libya.Other western leaders too said Gadafy’s death was validation of Nato support for anti-Gadafy forces.
After almost eight months of coalition bombing runs and financial and material support for the post-Gadafy National Transition Council, the US mission to give Libyans a chance to "determine their destiny" has succeeded, the president said.
"Without putting a single US service member on the ground, we achieved our objectives, and our Nato mission will soon come to an end," Mr Obama said yesterday at the White House. "We did exactly what we said we were going to do in Libya,.
"I think it underscores the capacity of us to work together as an international community," he said, adding that partnerships can make the US "even more effective."
British foreign secretary William Hague said his government had “felt vindicated all along." Speaking on the BBC, he said the "real gamble" would have been to do nothing in March when Gadafy was threatening the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.
On Canada's CBC television, prime minister Stephen Harper declared that Gadafy's days are over. "Never again will he be in a position to support terrorism or to turn guns on his own people."
Nato secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the leader's death showed that "Nato and our partners have successfully implemented the historic mandate of the United Nations to protect the people of Libya".
The acclaim was not universal.
In Venezuela, president Hugo Chavez said Gadafy was a "martyr" and a "great fighter" whose death was an "assassination". The Libyan leader awarded Chavez with the "al Gadafy International Human Rights" award in 2004.
Mr Obama’s critics in Congress had assailed the administration for entering the conflict with Nato, describing it as "leading from behind." Others argued the president didn't have the right to start a war without Congressional approval. Administration officials such as secretary of state Hillary Clinton said that the military campaign was "limited intervention," not war.
Gadafy's death follows the flight of Tunisia's president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali from power on January 14th after large-scale protests. Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak was ousted in April after three decades in power. Egypt's interim ruling authority yesterday called on Libya's NTC to "turn over a new page" to rebuild the country and offered assistance to its "Libyan brothers," the semi-official newspaper Al Ahram reported.
Mr Obama, Mr Harper, Mr Hague and Mr Rasmussen all said Gadafy's death would mean the end of the Nato-led mission.
"We will terminate our mission in coordination with the United Nations" and the NTC, Mr Rasmussen said.
With the reported fall of Gadafy-loyalist strongholds Bani Walid and Sirte, "that moment has now moved much closer," the Nato leader said.
Arab-American groups, including the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee, welcomed the start of a new era for Libya.
Reuters