U.S. : future role of NATO in Libya being discussed

The U.S. State Department said on Wednesday that discussions about the future role of NATO in Libya are ongoing, stressing the military bloc's experience in training and decommissioning of weapons. "Our understanding from our mission to NATO and from our embassy is that the TNC (of Libya) may foresee a future role for NATO," department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said at a regular news briefing, referring to the interim governing body in Libya. "Some things have been discussed, like support for border security, support for demobilization, decommissioning of weapons, these kinds of things," she added. "Those consultations are now ongoing." As former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was killed in his hometown Sirte and the Libyan National Transitional Council (TNC) officially announced the liberation of Libya on Sunday, NATO preliminarily decided to end its mission in the North African nation on Oct. 31. TNC Chairman Mustafa Abdel Jalil on Wednesday urged NATO to continue its Libya campaign until at least the end of this year, with focus on ensuring the security of Libyans from remnants of Gaddafi's forces as well as on helping develop Libya's "defense and security systems." "We just have to wait until we get to a stage where NATO makes a decision on where to go," Nuland told reporters. "But, you know, NATO does have quite a bit of experience after the combat phase is over in helping countries around the world, and particularly partner countries, to train and equip their own military, restructure, particularly in the decommissioning of weapons." She said NATO is playing this role in Afghanistan.