NATO will keep bombing Moamer Kadhafi's forces during Ramadan in August as long as the Libyan regime continues to attack civilians during the Muslim holy month, the alliance said Tuesday.
"We need to wait and see wether the Kadhafi forces continue to shell and inflict harm on the people of Libya," said the NATO operation's military spokesman, Wing Commander Mike Bracken.
"If they do, and we believe that there is risk to the lives of the Libyan people, and men, women and children could be slaughtered or attacked, then I think it would be highly appropriate for the protection of those lives to continue," he said via videolink from mission headquarters in Naples, Italy.
In Brussels, alliance spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said: "It is hoped that the Kadhafi forces will stop attacking and threatening to attack civilians not just for Ramadan but immediately."
She recalled that the three military objectives outlined by NATO allies is for Kadhafi to end all attacks on civilians, return his troops to barracks and allow full access to humanitarian aid.
"Until now, unfortunately, the Kadhafi regime has shown a shocking disregard for human life. We have seen the Kadhafi regime forces using civilian populated areas as human shields, using mosques to fire against residential areas.
"So as long as those attacks and those threats continue to be there, NATO's mission is to protect civilians in Libya."
Ahead of meeting between NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen and a rebel delegation in Brussels on Wednesday, Lungescu reiterated that NATO believes military power alone will not end the conflict and that a political solution was needed.
Mahmud Jibril, the head of the National Transitional Council, will hold bilateral talks with Rasmussen and have an "informal meeting" with the 28-nation alliance's ambassadors at NATO headquarters, she said.
The ambassadors "will want to hear what plans the NTC has for the future and ensuring the security and protection of civilians," Lungescu said.
Rasmussen will participate on Friday at the meeting of the contact group on Libya in Istanbul.
