NATO countries agreed on Thursday to enforce a no-fly zone in Libya to protect civilians against Muammar Gadhafi's forces, but fell short of taking full command of all military operations in the North African state.

NATO officials said a decision was expected on Sunday on whether to broaden the mandate to take full command, including over attacks on ground targets to protect civilian areas under threat from Muammar Gadhafi's forces.

Open gallery view NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen addresses the media at NATO headquarters in Brussels, March 24, 2011. Credit: AP

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters after four days of grueling negotiations among ambassadors of the 28 NATO states the U.S.-led military alliance's new mandate did not extend beyond enforcing an arms embargo and the no-fly zone, although NATO could act in self-defense.

Asked whether NATO would be able to strike at ground forces or take action against Gadhafi, Rasmussen said: "At this moment, there will still be a coalition operation and a NATO operation."

However, he said talks would continue on giving NATO a broader role and a decision would be made in coming days. In the meantime, there would be close coordination to avoid conflicts.

NATO officials said that if all 28 states agreed to expand NATO's role, it would give the alliance political control of military operations.

However they said it would "take into account" the guidance of a high-level political platform to include Arab states expected to be established at a conference in London on Tuesday.

This would represent a compromise between the positions of NATO members France and Turkey, who have held up a deal.

France, which launched the air campaign with Britain and the United States on Saturday, has argued NATO should provide its command structure while an ad hoc steering group of coalition members, including the Arab League, exercises political control.

France wants to put the operation under a broader umbrella to include Arab states, arguing that having NATO in full charge would erode Arab support because of U.S. unpopularity in the Arab world.

Turkey has wanted to be able to use its NATO veto to limit allied operations against the country's infrastructure and avoid casualties among Muslim civilians that it fears could result from bombing raids.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told reporters earlier on Thursday that these fears had been addressed and command of military operations would be transferred completely to NATO and that there would be a single command and control.

His comments came after a four-way telephone conference between U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the foreign ministers of Turkey, France and Britain.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who has been pushing President Barack Obama's effort to relinquish U.S. leadership of the Libya operation, said NATO was well placed to take over.

"NATO is well suited to coordinating this international effort and ensuring that all participating nations are working effectively together toward our shared goals," Clinton said after a deal that nevertheless appeared to leave significant responsibility on U.S. shoulders.

NATO operations expected in days

NATO officials said alliance operations to enforce the no-fly zone were expected to get under way in 48-72 hours. The NATO operation would be under the command of U.S. Admiral Samuel Locklear, the operations commander of the coalition mission.

Obama, trying to extricate Washington from two wars in Muslim nations, Iraq and Afghanistan, has said Washington wants to hand over responsibility for the Libya campaign to NATO within days.

The effort got a further boost as French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced the United Arab Emirates would contribute 12 planes to the Libya coalition force, significantly increasing Arab participation in the campaign.

U.S. Vice Admiral Bill Gortney said in Washington the United States was working very hard to hand over leadership of the coalition, possibly as early as this weekend.

Earlier, Turkish leaders had cast new suspicions on the motives behind Western intervention in Libya, suggesting action was driven by oil and mineral wealth rather than a desire to protect civilians from Gadhafi's forces.

The Turkish parliament nevertheless approved a decision to join a NATO naval operation to enforce a U.N.-sanctioned arms embargo off Libya by sending four frigates, a submarine and a support vessel for the naval operation.

A French diplomatic source said Paris had secured agreement for a "political strategy commission that will bring together all the contributing states". It would meet in London on Tuesday and provide the political direction for operations in Libya.

On Thursday, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said it may take a coalition of Western powers days or weeks to destroy Muammar Gaddafi's military, but not months.

The debate over NATO's role has raised the temperatures in the relationship between Turkey and France.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan took a swipe at France on Thursday, saying the same people who were reluctant to let Turkey into the European Union now spoke in terms of "crusades" in Libya, referring to a loose comment by Sarkozy's interior minister.

He also voiced suspicion that some seeking to act outside NATO had their eyes on Libya's oil, while President Abdullah Gul said the coalition lacked an agreed policy, planning and exit strategy, and Libya could be "looted" like Iraq.

British Prime Minister David Cameron sought to assuage concerns about Western motives by saying the coalition should not stray beyond the U.N. resolution by targeting Gadhafi.

"It is very important we don't go beyond that in any way," he said when asked if the Libyan leader was a legitimate target.

