Libya: NTC wants NATO to stay

VOA News October 26, 2011

Libya's interim leader has urged NATO to continue its mission in the country until at least the end of the year.

National Transitional Council head Mustafa Abdel Jalil said Wednesday the move would help prevent Moammar Gadhafi's loyalists from regrouping and posing a security threat.

He made the appeal in Qatar, at the first international planning conference for Libya since Gadhafi's death last week.

Qatar was a leading Arab backer of the uprising against Gadhafi. It contributed warplanes to the NATO-led air campaign and helped arrange an oil sale to fund the provincial government. Media also say Qatar revealed Wednesday that hundreds of Qatari soldiers battled alongside NTC fighters on the ground in Libya.

Separately, NATO ambassadors gathered in Brussels on Wednesday to consider ending the alliance's seven-month-old air campaign over Libya. They decided to postpone a formal decision until Friday to allow time for more consultations with Libya's interim leaders.

Last week, NATO announced a preliminary decision to end the mission on October 31st.