NATO's chief said Thursday the Western military alliance would not arm opposition forces seeking to oust Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi, speaking as his organization took over control of airstrike operations against Libya.
"As far as NATO is concerned, and I speak on behalf of NATO, we will focus on the enforcement of the arms embargo," Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in Stockholm after talks with Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt.
"The purpose of an arms embargo is to stop the flow of weapons into Libya," he said. "We are there to protect the Libyan people, not to arm people."
NATO vessels are policing an arms embargo in the Mediterranean as part of the "Unified Protector" mission, which enforces all United Nations-mandated actions against Libya, including a no-fly zone and airstrikes to prevent attacks on civilians.
The United States and Britain have suggested that the arms embargo could be overridden if the overall objective was to prevent civilian casualties, while Italy retorted that such action would be in "manifest violation" of UN Security Council resolution 1973.
The chairman of NATO`s military committee, Admiral Giampaolo Di Paola, told a news conference in Brussels that "if today there is a ship transporting arms or mercenaries, it will be stopped."
If some members of the international community decided to arm the rebels, "the alliance will make up its mind" on whether it should continue to stop such actions, Di Paola said.
"There might be different interpretations, it is not that clear whether (arming the rebels) would be in breach or not in breach of the (UN) resolution," he acknowledged.
Di Paola also insisted that NATO would defend "all civilians" - signaling it would also intervene against rebels if they committed massacres.
"We don't look for the ID card of civilians," he said. "But to this day, the attacks have been coming from one side, Gaddafi's forces."
Before NATO took over, airstrikes against Libya had been carried out by an impromptu coalition coordinated by the United States, with Britain and France playing leading roles.
Bishop Giovanni Innocenzo Martinelli, the apostolic vicar of Tripoli, told the Vatican news agency Fides that in recent days air raids over the Libyan capital had killed at least 40 civilians.
Canadian Lieutenant General Charles Bouchard, who is leading NATO operations, told a news conference in Naples that an investigation had been launched "to ascertain whether or not NATO forces were involved."
NATO started taking control of operations on Wednesday, but established full command over all military assets only as of 0600 GMT.
Bouchard said that over 90 flights had been carried out since then, with the alliance having at its disposal over 100 fighter jets and more than 12 frigates.
"We are very careful in the prosecution of any of the possible targets, we have very strict rules of engagement," Bouchard said.
NATO officials could not immediately confirm which countries were involved, with Di Paola only indicating that "some 20 alliance members" and "several" non-NATO countries were participating.
Within the alliance, Germany and Poland have pulled out of all military actions, while Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg and Iceland are unlikely to be involved in airstrikes as they do not have airforces.
Sweden, a non-NATO member, offered to contribute eight JAS Gripen fighter jets - a pledge welcomed by Rasmussen. The Swedish parliament has yet to give its final approval, but Reinfeldt said there was broad support for the move.
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