Page 11 - Inside Libya News Today

Tanks. and this, which is said to be canadian forces, bombing a gadhafi weapons depot. just yesterday, french fighter jets taking off from the aircraft carrier in the mediterranean sea. arab nations are contributing resources, as well. the united arab emirates will send a dozen planes to patrol the no-fly zone in the coming days. and just today, the joint task force released this picture of a qatari jet taking off in support of the operation. back in the united states, pressure has been mounting...

Word today from the top commander of the u.s. operation in libya, that nato will take over the mission. general carter ham said the transition of the no-fly zone will happen this weekend, and nato has agreed in principle to also take command of the broader mission of protecting libyan civilians. so whats that transition going to mean? joining us live from brussels, international security correspondent paula newton in tripoli, david kirkpatrick. and in los angeles, former nato supreme allied comm...

Company of this network. john bussey, do you know details of the uaes contributions here above and beyond those 12 planes? >> yeah. our nathan hodge who is reporting on this says that there are 12 fighter aircraft. now, this is to be in addition to gutter, which has fielded two fighters and some transport planes. i think, shepard, your point is well-taken that, you know, the skies are basically already clear that the tough work has been done. it is still very significant that the arab league and...

Its been somewhat overshadowed by obviously whats happening in libya. but today the white house press secretary jay carney was pushed and he still did not explain why there was no post saleh planning that was confirmed by the press secretary wednesday. yemen is planning for more large scale demos like this tomorrow. carney would only say that the must be peaceful and the u.s. government was simply not in the business in choose hog a new leader should be. publicly the state department is insistin...

>> shepard: breaking news on fox report. the u.s. taking first step in controlling some control of the operation in libya to nato. secretary of state hillary clinton announcing a short time ago the agreement live on fox report. >> we have agreed along with our nato allies to transition command and control for the no-fly zone over libya to nato. all 28 allies have also now authorized military authorities to develop an operations plan for nato to take on the broader civilian protection mission und...

Be taken in order to protect innocent civilians from their own government. it is an effort that we believe is very important and well look forward to coordinating closely with all those nations that are participating. thank you very much. >> [inaudible] >> shepard: secretary clinton with the details of the handover of control or at least leadership of the war in libya. lets get to jennifer griffin at the pentagon. jennifer, what does this agreement mean here big picture, exactly? >> well, i thin...

Heart of the matter because as we have reported, the libyans dont have very many planes and the one did that did take off today, the french destroyed it when it was on the ground. so, enforcing the no-fly zone was not really the complicated part of this equation. what hillary clinton just said is that nato agreed tonight to go back to its members and to come up with an operational plan of how to take over and if they will take over command and control of how to protect libyan civilians. thats an...

A military jet. it will be restricting missions over libya. >> as they were landing or shortly after they were landing, they were, in fact, attacked and destroyed by a french aircraft executing the no-fly zone in accordance with the u.n. security council resolution. >> shepard: so they shot it up after it landed. in the eastern city of ajdabiya, rebels say that rememberrives there they sent in to talk to qaddafis forces to try to get them to surrender. their last representative never returned. a...

And is it your sense that that will be a continuing struggle and problem? >> no, of course its going to be a continuing struggle because it is not the mission. the mission is defined by the united nations. but the ultimate fate of libya is going to depend on his leaving. and that means -- for libya to survive. become strong democratic state in the middle east. he has got to go. >> shepard: you just made enormous jump democratic state under any circumstances that would be a perfect world for the ...

Ground game thats keeping libya, thats keeping qaddafi back on his heels, being able to advance his armor. i think the larger picture for the obama administration would be to get nato overseeing that undertaking as well. >> shepard: john busy, assistant managing editor from the "wall street journal," comprehensive reporting there at wsj.com and at foxnews.com. john, thanks a lot. live to the white house next as news is breaking on the war in libya. its almost the bottom of the hour. that means t...