From Reuters: Qatar’s top general said on Wednesday that Western countries had proposed setting up a new alliance headed by Qatar to support Libya after NATO ends its mission in the North African country.
He was speaking after NATO postponed until later this week a meeting that had been expected to formalize a decision to end its Libya mission at the end of the month after Libyan officials called for it to be kept going longer.
"After it became clear that NATO has a vision to withdraw at a certain point, Libya’s friends from the Western countries have proposed this idea of setting up a new alliance to continue supporting Libya," Qatar’s Chief of Staff, Major-General Hamad bin Ali al-Attiyah, said in remarks carried by Al Jazeera television.
"And they have asked that it be headed by Qatar because Qatar is a friend of theirs and a close friend of Libya," he added without giving further details.
Attiyah also said that hundreds of Qatari troops were on the ground in Libya helping the fighters who overthrew Gaddafi. . . .
NATO ambassadors had been expected to meet on Wednesday to formalize a preliminary decision taken last week to end the mission on October 31. NATO spokeswoman Carmen Romero said this meeting had now been postponed. (photo: Getty)
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