Nato's chief today rejected a call from Italy for a suspension of hostilities in Libya and tried to reassure wavering members of the Western coalition that Muammar Gadafy can be beaten.
Italy's ceasefire call exposed the strain on the Nato alliance, nearly 14 weeks into a bombing campaign that has so far failed to dislodge Col Gadafy but is causing mounting concerns about its cost and about civilian casualties.
Col Gadafy sounded a fresh note of defiance with an audio recording, broadcast on Libyan television, in which he called Nato states murderers of innocent civilians and vowed to avenge their deaths.
Asked about Italy's ceasefire call, Nato secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in a newspaper interview: "No, on the contrary. We shall continue and see it through to the end.
"The allies are committed to making the necessary effort for a sustained operation," he told France's Le Figaro newspaper.
"We will take the time needed until the military objective is reached: end all attacks against Libyan civilians, return armed forces to barracks and freedom of movement for humanitarian aid."
Mr Rasmussen said it was no surprise that it was proving tough to break Libya's military and security apparatus.
"We knew he had the military means and financial resources. We avoided a massacre and broke his war machine. Nato has damaged or destroyed 2,400 military targets," the newspaper quoted him as saying. "Today we are seeing opposition troops going on the offensive. I am satisfied with the progress."
Col Gadafy accused Nato states of murder in an audio speech broadcast late last night, days after the alliance acknowledged for the first time its bombs may have caused civilian casualties.
"You said: 'we hit our targets with precision', you murderers!" he said in a tirade against Nato on state television.
"One day we will respond to you likewise and your homes will be legitimate targets," he said, warning of war in Europe, the United States and Asia.
The date on the screen was June 22nd, but Col Gadafy referred to a June 19th strike on a house in Tripoli after which Nato regretted civilian casualties as "yesterday's crime", suggesting he was speaking on June 20th and raising questions over his location.
After Nato bombed the house, killing several residents, Italy's foreign minister said the military alliance had endangered its credibility.
It was the first time Nato had acknowledged causing multiple civilian casualties in Libya and came as the alliance feels the strain of a campaign taking more time and resources than expected.
Nato said the intended target was a missile site. The head of its Libya operations said he regretted the loss of life and that a system failure may have knocked the weapon off course.
Reuters