NATO to take command over stalemated campaign

• Earlier, the French military said their planes had hit an air base about 250 kilometers (155 miles) south of the Libyan coastline, but did not give any further information on the location of the target or the damage.
• Western military planes were also said to have hit the town of Sebha in southern Libya, according to residents and media reports.
• Fresh fighting has meanwhile been reported in Misrata, scene of a bitter battle for control which has lasted for many days. One doctor quoted by the AFP news agency said pro-Gaddafi forces had killed more than 100 people and injured 1,300 in the past week.
• Further east in the strategically important city of Ajdabiya, residents described shelling, gunfire and houses on fire. One report said rebels were moving closer to the city but remained out-gunned by pro-Gaddafi forces.
• In the main eastern city of Benghazi, rebel spokesman Mustafa Gheriani told the BBC that 17,000 fighters had set out from the city to join the battle to the west. Although he admitted that the rebel forces were on a “learning curve,” he insisted that they all knew how to operate their weapons and were committed.
• Vice-Admiral Bill Gortney also told a Pentagon briefing that a total of 350 aircraft were now involved in the operation in some way, about half of them American.
• A total of 38 ships were participating, he said, twelve of them from the United States.
• He insisted that Libyan ground forces would continue to be attacked as long as they threatened the lives of civilians. “Our message to the regime troops is simple - stop fighting… stop obeying Gaddafi’s orders,” he said.

On the political front

• Turkey’s foreign minister has said NATO will take command of the international mission in Libya within a day or two. “Compromise has been reached in principle in a very short time,” Ahmet Davutoglu was quoted as saying after a conference call with his US, French and British counterparts. Turkey had earlier raised objections to the organization taking command without certain conditions first being agreed.
• Turkey said it wanted any NATO-led action to focus directly on enforcing the no-fly zone and arms embargo, rather than allowing any continuing strikes against ground forces.
• The Turkish parliament has backed a government decision to join the blockade. Four frigates, a submarine and a support vessel are being provided by Turkey.
• Reports from Brussels suggest that the mission might be placed under NATO control, but overseen by a military council including some Arab states.
• A senior U.S. military official confirmed the handover could come as early as this weekend.
• UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said there is no sign that the Libyan government is meeting demands for an immediate ceasefire. He warned that the UN Security Council would take “additional measures” if Libya did not comply.
• The International Criminal Court’s prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, has said he is “100% certain” that charges of crimes against humanity will be brought against Col. Gaddafi’s regime. An initial inquiry should end in May, he said, and a second case might follow to investigate more recent attacks on civilians.
• In a separate development, African Union chairman Jean Ping has invited members of the Libyan government and opposition to talks in Ethiopia. Representatives of the European Union, the UN Security Council, and neighboring countries have also been invited to the talks, scheduled to be held in Addis Ababa on Friday.
• The United Kingdom has invited fellow NATO members, the UN, Arab League and African Union, and a number of Arab nations, to a conference in London on Tuesday.