Rasmussen: NATO to end Libya mission on Oct. 31

NATO will end its Libya operations at the end of the month and does not expect to play a major role in the country in the post-conflict period, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Thursday.

A decision by the U.N. Security Council on Thursday to cancel its mandate covering the seventh-month-old NATO military mission that led to the ouster of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, gave NATO firm ground to end its deployment, Rasmussen said.

Ambassadors from the 28 NATO states will meet in Brussels on Friday to formalise a preliminary decision reached a week ago to end the mission on Oct. 31.

"Tomorrow we will confirm and formalise that decision," Rasmussen said. Asked about any future role for NATO in Libya Rasmussen said: "I do not foresee a major NATO role in Libya in the post-conflict period.

If requested we can assist the new Libyan government in the transformation to democracy, for instance with defence and security sector reform, but I wouldn't expect new tasks beyond that."

The U.N. move came despite a request from Libya's interim government for the Security Council to wait for it to decide whether it wants NATO to help it secure its borders.