On Thursday morning at 0600 GMT, NATO took sole command of international air operations over Libya.

In practical terms, Alliance and coalition partners have effectively obliged themselves to topple the Libyan leader and his family.

Vaclav Klaus, the Czech Republic's famously eurosceptic president renowned across Europe for holding up passage of the Lisbon Treaty for months, has launched an attack against a fresh EU target: the ‘Euro-plus-pact'.

The warships will not be available for the NATO military campaign to deny airspace and arms supplies to Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi, the spokesman told the German Press Agency dpa.

"Given the amount of interest, let me address the role of both USEUCOM and Allied Command Operations (ACO) in Libya – the former in a supporting role, the latter acting upon direction from the North Atlantic Council (NAC)".

NATO will implement all aspects of the UN Resolution. Nothing more, nothing less.

German chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrat party (CDU) has suffered a bitter defeat in the key state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, ceding control to the anti-nuclear Green party, preliminary results suggest.

Syrian President Bashir al-Assad's forces killed at least 20 more protesters over the weekend. But the US gave him credit for reforms and ruled out intervention, in contrast to hawkish French rhetoric.

Political oversight will be in the hands of a committee of a smaller number of countries involved in the military campaign.

Eurozone leaders reached a deal on a pact of measures to ensure closure economic coordination a fortnight ago, with Van Rompuy branding the deal a 'euro-pus pact'.

NATO failed again to agree on Wednesday on taking over command of military operations against Muammar Gaddafi's forces in Libya from the United States, chiefly due to Turkish reservations, diplomats said.

Engulfed in problems, Portugal's government could fall just one day ahead of a crucial European summit where the bloc's leaders are set to put the finishing touches on a grand 'comprehensive response' to the eurozone crisis.

NATO's decision prompted Germany to immediately announce it was pulling out of alliance operations in the Mediterranean. Four ships will be returned to German command, a Defence Ministry spokesman in Berlin said.

NATO has now decided to launch an operation to enforce the arms embargo against Libya. All Allies are committed to meet their responsibilities under the United Nations resolution to stop the intolerable violence against Libyan civilians.

An Italian foreign ministry official said Italy considered the current three-way command structure involving France, Britain and the USA and the resulting bombing campaign "anarchic" and said it "poses problems to the Arab world."

The US wants to hand over command of Operation Odyssey Dawn to another country, but so far NATO has been unable to reach an agreement on taking control of the implementation of the no-fly zone in Libya. Turkey is leading the objections.

Alliance member Turkey, which has spoken against intervention in Libya, had earlier blocked agreement among the ambassadors, a NATO diplomat said.

Diplomats said NATO's military planners are due to present final action plans to the North Atlantic Council on Sunday. The body should then decide whether the alliance will join the coalition operation or just provide support to the nations taking part in

The Military of Defence confirmed Stormshadow missiles were launched from Tornado GR4 fast jets, which flew 3,000 miles from RAF Marham in Norfolk and back.

NATO diplomats said NATO planning had been confined to possibly assisting in implementing a "no-fly" zone rather than air strikes, which would probably involve individual states such as Britain and France rather than NATO.

The sooner the United Nations can reach an agreement the better. NATO stands ready to protect the civilian population against attacks from the regime.

Lene Espersen, the foreign minister, told that the Air Force is preparing four F-16 fighter jets [and 90 crew] to take part in an internationally-backed no-fly zone over Libya, should Nato high command decide to act.

France pressured G8 foreign ministers yesterday (14 March) to agree action on Libya and back its efforts to speed up a UN Security Council decision on imposing a no-fly zone, but hit opposition from partners like Germany.

The meeting focused on one expected challenge — Afghanistan — and one new issue, Libya.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday reiterated his opposition to NATO intervention in Libya, saying it would trigger dangerous consequences.

The Arab League has given the green light for Western powers to impose a no-fly zone in Libya, prompting France to step up its campaign for military action.

Greece has won a reduction of 100 basis points - one percent - in the interest rate it pays on its ?110 billion loan and an extension of the payment period from the current three and a half years to seven and a half.

NATO decided to increase the presence of NATO maritime assets in the Central Mediterranean. Our strategic operational commander SACEUR Admiral Jim Stavridis will move into the Central Mediterranean maritime assets under his command.

On Wednesday, Mr. Juppé, said, “It’s necessary to act now to stop the murderous repression that the Qaddafi regime continues to deploy. France has taken a very clear position: NATO is not the organization best designed to do it. ...”

Ahead of meeting, diplomats from several NATO countries said that the alliance had set three principles to govern its action: a 'demonstrable need' for NATO intervention, a 'clear legal basis' and 'firm regional support.'

Britain and France are drafting a UN Security Council resolution to authorise a no-fly zone over Libya, a move that would require military intervention in case the Gaddafi regime does not step down soon. Nato meanwhile has put its surveillance planes on 2

Let me be clear. NATO has no intention to intervene in Libya. But as a defence Alliance and a security organisation, our job is to conduct prudent planning for any eventuality.

American military planners are sifting through a range of options as the United States, like other Western nations, weighs the response to the bloody Libyan military assaults on rebels trying to oust Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi.

Agostino Miozzo, EU foreign relations chief Catherine Ashton's right-hand-man on crisis management, told EUobserver by phone from the Italian embassy in Tripoli on Monday morning (7 March): "The situation is relatively calm, quiet.

Newly announced budget cuts at the Pentagon could put troop reductions back on the table. Experts believe the changing role of NATO in a post-Cold War world will ultimately dictate the number and structure of US soldiers in Europe.

While US and international attention is focused largely elsewhere in the region, especially Libya, the violent crackdown against protestors in the tiny island kingdom of Bahrain may well pose a bigger threat to the entire region's stability.

Fighting effectively requires fighting coherently under a unified chain of command. In Libya, this means NATO exercising effective command and control of the coalition operations.

While many in the media refer to this as operation Odyssey Dawn, that is the name of the U.S. military operation, not that of the international effort — which currently has no unified label.

Relations were so tense during alliance meetings in Brussels yesterday, reports the FT, “that the French and German ambassadors to NATO walked out of a meeting of the North Atlantic Council, the alliance’s decision-making body".

This time, "NATO" is not a fig leaf for "the United States." On Libya, though, France and the UK have very much been leading while the Obama administration has been having a rather public squabble over what to do.

Our diplomatic efforts must extend beyond the United Nations. The support of NATO and the African Union are important. To avoid the perception of NATO or the US attacking another Muslim country, we need the backing of the Arab world.

Delegates at a London meeting of the anti-Gaddafi coalition have hinted they may start giving weapons to rebels and underlined Arab endorsement of Western bombings.

NATO agreed late Thursday to take over part of the military operations against Libya — enforcement of the no-fly zone — after days of hard bargaining among its members.

Under the proposed British-French-US deal, the Nato command centre in Mons, Belgium, would make military decisions on the maritime and no-fly blockades while the new committee would have overall political control.

European finance ministers have finally given the green light to a radical new centralised EU oversight of national budgeting processes and, broader still, of all economic policies - both of countries that use the single currency and those that do not.

Ministers will also review progress in implementing the decisions taken by NATO leaders at the Lisbon Summit in making the Alliance more effective and more efficient in dealing with emerging security challenges.