NATO is helping rebels in the hunt for Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi, British Defence Secretary Liam Fox told the BBC on Wednesday - contradicting earlier denials from the military alliance that it was acting in concert with the opposition, DPA reported.
"NATO is providing intelligence and reconnaissance assets to help in the hunt of Gaddafi and the remnants of the regime," Fox said.
He also said that NATO had been "more active" on Wednesday compared to previous nights in attacking "the resisting elements of the regime."
NATO was not immediately available for comment on Thursday.
Fox refused to confirm a report by the Daily Telegraph that British special forces were assisting in the search, indicating only that military advisers were helping with "communications, logistics, the chain of command and so on."
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has denied the presence of French special forces on the ground in Libya.
French military spokesman Colonel Thierry Burkhard on Wednesday said "several dozen" French military advisers were in Libya "liaising" with the Transitional National Council.
"There is no French ground intervention," he said.
Pressed on the issue Thursday, following a report that French and British operatives were working alongside rebels on the eastern front at Zuwaytina, a Foreign Ministry spokesman referred to Sarkozy's earlier remarks.
In its latest bulletin, NATO said its planes had conducted 48 strike sorties on Wednesday, compared to 46 on Tuesday and 36 on Monday. It mentioned arsenals, rocket launchers and trucks among the targets - not Gaddafi's bunker.
On Tuesday NATO denied that was engaged in tactical operations or coordinating with rebel forces. The alliance also denied that Gaddafi was a specific target for NATO bombing, but acknowledged that he could become one if he was hiding in a "command and control" centre that was being used to orchestrate attacks on civilians.
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