NATO Needs More Planes in Libya

BBC reports:

Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has told a foreign ministers' summit the alliance needs "a few more" aircraft for its mission in Libya.

Mr Rasmussen said he had received no "specific pledges or promises from this meeting" in Berlin, but he remained hopeful.

He said Nato would continue "day by day, strike by strike" to target forces loyal to Col Muammar Gaddafi.

Britain and France have been trying to persuade other Nato members to do more.

London and Paris have been urging allies to get actively involved with ground attack planes to intensify air raids, says BBC diplomatic correspondent James Robbins.

They believe that would provide better protection for civilians and perhaps help break the military deadlock in Libya.

Mr Rasmussen told the meeting that Nato supreme commander Adm James Stavridis was "generally content" with his forces.

But the secretary general added: "Now they [pro-Gaddafi forces] hide their heavy arms in populated areas where before many targets were easy to get to.