NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen made a surprise visit to Tripoli on Monday, October 31, saying he foresaw no major role left for the alliance in Libya hours before its air mission was due to end officially.
His visit comes seven months after Western powers fired the first barrage of missiles against Gaddafi forces in an air war that played a major role in ousting the veteran dictator.
He arrived in a C130 transport plane escorted by two French mirage fighter jets, an AFP correspondent who traveled with him said.
The visit marks the first ever to Libya by a NATO secretary general.
Rasmussen said that he will hold talks in Tripoli with National Transitional Council (NTC) leaders, including chairman Mustafa Abdel Jalil, "about their expectations as regards Libya's future and in particular their roadmap for transition to democracy."
The other major theme he will raise with Libya's new leaders, he said, "will be their expectations as regards possible NATO assistance in the future."
"Tonight at midnight Operation Unified Protector will end. But we have also clearly stated that if the new political leadership in Libya so requests, NATO stands ready to help them in their transformation to a democracy," Rasmussen said.
For instance, he said, NATO could help could be given "when it comes to defense and security reform."
"(But with) no NATO troops on the ground, I don't foresee a major NATO role. It's now for the United Nations to take the lead of the international assistance to the new authorities in Libya," the NATO secretary general told AFP.
"But NATO has some expertise, in particular within defense and security sector reform. … So if Libya so requests, it would be quite natural to offer that expertise to the benefit of the Libyan people."
The trip comes three days after NATO allies confirmed a decision to end the mission, declaring that the 28-nation alliance had fulfilled its UN mandate to protect civilians from a brutal repression.
