NATO considers to end Libya air war

With Moamer Qaddafi diehards surrounded by the new leadership’s forces in Sirte and Bani Walid and the fallen Libyan leader in hiding, the number of NATO air strikes has drastically declined in recent weeks. NATO officials say the six-month-old air war will continue as long as Qaddafi loyalists pose a threat to civilians.“Sirte is extremely symbolic. But it is important that we no longer have pockets of resistance,” said French Defence Minister Gerard Longuet. “Whether Qaddafi disappears from the scene is important, but I’s not enough,” Longuet told reporters before a second day of talks with NATO counterparts. NATO Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, US Admiral James Stavridis, recommended to the ministers late Wednesday that the mission continue until the new regime consolidates control of the entire country, diplomats said.Once the country is deemed secure, Stavridis suggested that the no-fly zone carry on for two weeks until NATO is “sure that fighting has ended,” the diplomat said.Qaddafi loyalists have made it tricky for NATO warplanes to bomb them by hiding in built-up areas, using civilians as human shields to deter air strikes, officials said.NATO reported eight air strikes in Bani Walid, a southern desert town, on Wednesday but no bombings in Kadhafis hometown of Sirte in the east, compared to between 15 and 20 raids daily across Libya earlier in the mission.