Rasmussen declares end of NATO operation in Libya

Anders Fogh Rasmussen with Abdel Jalil Libyan businessman Abdel Rahim al-Keeb was elected on Monday as the first Libyan Prime Minister after the fall of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s regime, receiving the highest votes among his fellow members of the Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC). The election took place by secret ballot after each candidate was granted 20 minutes to present their proposals of the transitional government.
There were nine other candidates, including: Mustafa Alrajabani and Mustafa the al-Houny, and Nasser Al-Manea, and Mahmoud Al-nikoa, Mahmoud Al-aftysa, Abdul Hafeez Ghoka and Ali Zeidan, Ali Al-Tarhouni, while Dr. Mahmoud Jibril was not included.
In addition to the usual ministries such as health, interior, defense, economy, etc., it was decided to create a ministry for the welfare of martyrs, wounded and missing, and the Ministry of Local Government.
This came about after NTC member Abdel-Razzaq al-Eradi called for the quick formation of a transitional government, and an army to face security risks especially in the south of Libya. He also called for expediting national reconciliation and respect for human rights.
Eradi stressed that the Libyan media should announce the names of the candidates for the new Libyan government, in order to gauge public opinion.
The NTC member also called for expediting the drafting of the law of the election of the General National Conference, which is assumed to be elected within eight months of the Declaration of Liberty under the Constitutional Declaration, along with specifying the criteria for selection of the Supreme National Commission that will oversee the election of the National Congress.
He also called for accelerating the construction of the security institutions of the army and security services, saying that it must be accelerated to build a strong national army can meet the security challenges, especially in the south of the country, adding that there is information indicating a potential risk of the remnants of the late Libyan Colonel Muammar Gaddafi that restore their powers in northern Niger and Mali.
NATO Chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen also declared the end of military operations of NATO in Libya, saying: "I was proud of the part NATO had played in the seven-month insurgency against Gaddafi, in which NATO planes and ships turned their firepower on his forces.
Rasmussen arrived in a surprise visit to the Libyan capital, Tripoli, on the last day of NATO's military operations in Libya after the disposal of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi , who ruled Libya for more than 42 years.
The operations were called "United Protector", which was described as of "the most successful operations" in the history of the alliance.
The alliance stuck to its decision to end the NATO operation, despite the NTC’s call to keep it going until the end of the year, indicating that though not expected to play a major role after the war, it may help in the transition to democracy by helping reform the security sector.
Rasmussen’s statement came during a joint press conference with NTC President Mustafa Abdul Jalil, where they discussed Libya’s future and the roadmap to democracy.
He had said earlier that the alliance is ready to help Libya to conduct "defense and security reforms," but said that it is time for the United Nations to take command of the task to help Libya.
However, NATO officials said that the members of the alliance were free to provide additional security assistance to Libya individually.
The alliance took over the job in Libya on 31 March, mandated by the United Nations Security Council, to use the various "necessary measures" to protect Libyan civilians.
Among the 14 NATO countries, only eight countries, in addition to four including UAE, Qatar, and Jordan, took part and provided naval and air forces in the combat missions, while other members such as Germany opposed intervention.
NATO's operations included 26,000 air raids and naval patrols around the clock. U.S. aircraft carried out a quarter of them.
NTC military spokesman, Colonel Ahmed Bani, said that the Rebels Brigades discovered chemical weapons in the arsenal of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in Jafra, south-west Libya. He asked the international community to intervene, noting that there was a group of missiles equipped with mustard gas among the find.
Chief of the Executive Bureau Council, Mahmoud Jibril did not provide more details, saying only that Tripoli had notified the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons based in The Hague.
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that there are very complex political tasks before the new leaders of Libya, suggesting that they do not have much experience in political affairs.
Clinton added in an interview with 'Washington Post' that the leaders of Libya after Gaddafi have to unite the people and tribes to deal with differences and rivalry between the east and the west, and in particular between Tripoli and Benghazi.
The head of the Military Council in Tripoli, Abddel Hakilm Belhadj said on Monday that "The Transitional National Council will hand over their weapons to the officials concerned as soon as possible."
Belhadj said in an interview that the weapons obtained by the rebels will be handed over to officials soon, noting that they would be stored in the warehouses of the Ministry of Interior.
He pointed out that the goal of the revolution that began in February is to establish a state based on law and justice, and security is the most important part of it.