After days of talks, NATO has decided to enforce the no-fly zone over Libya to protect civilians, but will not carry out ground strikes.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the alliance had agreed to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya "to protect civilians" but not to carry out ground strikes.
After days of fraught talks, as NATO member Turkey raised objections to action by the US-led coalition against Muammar Gaddafi's forces, the alliance had finally agreed "to assume responsibility" to enforce the no-fly zone, Rasmussen said.
"We have now decided to enforce the no-fly zone over Libya," he said.
Rasmussen said the 28-member alliance would enforce the UN-mandated no-fly zone but would not take part in action to take out pro-Gaddafi military hardware.
Asked whether NATO would take overall command of the campaign, the NATO chief said: "What we have decided is that NATO will enforce the no-fly zone. We are considering whether NATO should take on that broader responsibility. But that decision has not been made yet."
"We are taking action as part of a broad international effort to protect civilians against the Gaddafi regime," he said.
"There will be a coalition operation and a NATO operation," he told journalists.
Asked by CNN whether strikes against Gaddafi's tanks and artillery would continue to be in the hands of the coalition led by the United States, Britain and France, Rasmussen said, "Yeah."
French fighter jet 'destroys' Gaddafi plane
The French military says one of its fighter jets has destroyed a Gaddafi regime warplane just after it landed in the Libyan city of Misrata, 200 kilometres east of Tripoli.
French planes backed by British and American forces have taken the lead in carrying out airstrikes under a UN resolution approving a no-fly zone aimed at protecting civilians from attacks by forces loyal to President Muammar Gaddafi.
One of about 20 French military planes flying over Libyan airspace, the Rafale jet fired an air-to-surface AASM missile at the Libyan aircraft, which had been detected by a US AWAC surveillance plane, the source said.
Earlier, a US official reported that the destroyed plane -- identified by the Americans as a Yugoslav-built G-2/Galeb -- has been hit at midday "while landing", suggesting that is was still in the air.
Libya says 100 civilians killed in coalition raids
Almost 100 civilians have been killed in coalition raids launched on forces of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi nearly a week ago, a government spokesman said, giving a provisional toll.
"I can't give the latest numbers but we are getting close to 100 for sure," Mussa Ibrahim told reporters who asked for an overall death toll since coalition operations were launched Saturday.
"Yes, they are civilians," he added in reply to a question on the identities of those killed.
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