Norway looks to curtail Libya air strike role – other European NATO allies to follow?

Norway will scale down its role in NATO-orchestrated air strikes on Libya after its current three-month commitment ends on 24 June, Defence Minister Grete Faremo said on 9 May. Norway was one of the first European states to signal its willingness to implement a UN resolution aimed at protecting Libyan civilians and has six F-16s flying sorties.

"If NATO continues operations in Libya after June 24, a possible Norwegian contribution will be different and less comprehensive than the current one," Faremo told parliament. “There is no military solution to the situation in Libya,” she added. “It must be solved politically.”

The statement came after a junior ruling party, the Socialist Left (SV), demanded Norway pull out of the mission. The left-wing newspaper Klassekampen quoted what it called highly placed government sources as saying all three coalition parties are tired of seeing Norway fly more missions than they think are warranted for a country of its size.

http://www.natowatch.org/node/504
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