NATO's operation in Libya will continue for as long as the civilian population there is in danger, the alliance's Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen and national leaders said Thursday.
"We have announced that operations will continue as long as necessary, as long as there is a threat to civilians," he said, after talks in Paris between Libyan rebel leaders and the international community.
France's President Nicolas Sarkozy and Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron, whose militaries spearheaded Western support for the rebellion against Moamer Kadhafi, confirmed that their warplanes would stay in the air.
"NATO and our allies will continue our operations to implemnent UN resolutions ... as long as we are needed to protect civilian life," Cameron said, at a joint press conference with Sarkozy and Libya's interim leaders.