NATO countries have agreed to enforce a no-fly zone in Libya “to protect civilians” against Muammar Gaddafi’s forces, Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters.  He said the military alliance’s mandate did not go beyond the no-fly zone but NATO could also act in self-defense. He appeared to contradict an earlier statement by Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkey’s foreign minister, that NATO would take command of all coalition military operations in Libya.

The devil is ALWAYS in the details……

“At this moment, there will still be a coalition operation and a NATO operation,” Rasmussen said. “But we are considering whether NATO should take on that broader responsibility in accordance with the UN Security Council resolution, but that decision has not been made yet.”

Rasmussen’s announcement followed days of negotiations and a breakthrough on Thursday when Turkey agreed to back the plan. All 28 members of NATO needed to back any agreement and Turkey had previously rejected backing any plan unless it was given assurances that the operation would be limited to protecting civilians, enforcing an arms embargo and a no-fly zone, and providing humanitarian aid.

Transfer of command? After the announcement of the agreement, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared that the U.S. was taking the next step in military operations against Libya by transferring command and control of the no-fly zone to NATO. Clinton said NATO had agreed to protect Libyan civilians, enforce the UN arms embargo on the North African country and support humanitarian aid efforts there. She also said all members of the alliance had authorized military authorities to develop an operations plan for NATO to take on the broader civilian protection mission under resolution 1973.

She said the coalition action had made “significant” progress in Libya. “Gaddafi’s troops have been pushed back, but they remain a serious threat to the safety” of the Libyan people, she said. She also praised the United Arab Emirates for becoming the second Arab country after Qatar to send planes to help the mission. The UAE will deploy 12 planes.

No compliance – The U.S. has been trying to give up the lead role in the operation against Gaddafi’s forces.   The U.S.-led coalition will still supervise attacks on targets on the ground, though fewer U.S. planes were used in airstrikes on Thursday. “Nearly all, some 75 per cent of the combat air patrol missions in support of the no-fly zone, are now being executed by our coalition partners,” Navy Vice Admiral William Gortney told reporters at the Pentagon. Other countries were handling less than 10 per cent of such missions, he said. The U.S. will continue to fly combat missions as needed, but its role will mainly be in support missions such as refueling allied planes and providing aerial surveillance of Libya, Gortney said.

Meanwhile, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said there are no signs that Gaddafi’s government is complying with U.N. Security Council demands for an immediate cease-fire. “There is no evidence that Libyan authorities have taken steps to carry out their obligations under resolutions 1970 or 1973,” Ban told the Security Council. He was referring to two council resolutions that called for an immediate end to hostilities and imposed a no-fly zone over the country. Ban said his special envoy to Libya, former Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdelilah Al-Khatib, had personally warned Gaddafi’s government the council may take further steps if Libya did not comply with last week’s cease-fire demand by the Security Council in resolution 1973.

“The special envoy emphasized that it was in Libya’s best interests to cease hostilities and change the dynamics of the crisis,” Ban said. “If Libya did not act, the envoy stated, the Security Council may be prepared to take additional measures.” Council members discussed the crisis in Libya behind closed doors on Thursday but took no action. Al-Khatib will attend a meeting on Libya in Addis Ababa hosted by the African Union, Ban said after the meeting. “Representatives of both the Libyan government and the opposition will attend, I was told, as well as relevant member states and regional organizations,” he told reporters.

Ban added the military operations in Libya were not aimed at regime change, but solely to protect civilian.  About 336,000 people have fled Libya since the beginning of the crisis, he said, adding that the UN had contingency plans to deal with as many as 250,000 new refugees.