U.N. to end mandate for NATO military operations in Libya (Reuters)

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) ? The U.N. Security Council plans on Thursday to end its authorization for a 7-month-old NATO military operation in Libya that led to the ouster and death of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

The plan to cancel the mandate comes despite a request from Libya's interim government for the Security Council to wait until the National Transitional Council makes a decision on whether it wants NATO to help it secure its borders.

The 15-nation council will meet at 10:00 a.m. EDT to vote on a British-drafted resolution, obtained by Reuters, that would terminate the U.N. mandate which set the no-fly zone over Libya and permitted foreign military forces to use "all necessary measures" to protect Libyan civilians.

If the resolution is approved, as expected, the U.N. mandate would lapse October 31 at 11:59 p.m. Libyan time (5:59 p.m. EDT).

Although the draft resolution does not specifically refer to NATO, the alliance's legal mandate to carry out the air strikes that enabled Libyan rebel forces to defeat Gaddafi's troops was supplied by Security Council resolution 1973, adopted in March.

The NTC officially announced Libya's liberation on October 23, days after the capture and swift death of Gaddafi.

Libyan Deputy U.N. Ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi asked the council on Wednesday to wait before terminating the mandate.

Dabbashi said the government needed time to assess the security situation in its country and its ability to monitor its borders.

Western diplomats, however, said council members planned to go ahead and terminate the U.N. mandate. They said issues the NTC had suggested it would like NATO to help with, including border security, fell outside the U.N. mandate to protect civilians and enforce a no-fly zone.

The resolution does not lift the arms embargo or other U.N. sanctions on Libya that have been in place for half a year.

The Security Council in March authorized a no-fly zone and foreign military intervention to protect Libyans from security forces Gaddafi had deployed to suppress pro-democracy uprisings across the country.

The council is also expected to approve a Russian-drafted resolution this week that voices concern about the proliferation of shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles across Libya and beyond its borders, U.N. diplomats said.

(Editing by Jackie Frank)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/un/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111027/wl_nm/us_libya_un

nike pro combat gardasil gardasil usnews new york special election windows 8 2pac