Analysts see long war in Libya

PARIS, April 21 (UPI) -- It's becoming increasingly clear there is no quick and easy solution to ending the war in Libya, Western military analysts said.

One sign that military operations won't end anytime soon, the analysts said, is France and Italy's decision to join Britain in sending liaison officers to support the rebel fighters, The New York Times reported Thursday.

"Some countries thought the Libya operation would be over quickly," a senior NATO ambassador told the Times. "But no military commander thinks so."

Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi's latest war tactics are making it hard for NATO pilots to find targets.

Gadhafi's forces are mixing with civilian populations, camouflaging weapons and driving pickup trucks instead of military vehicles.

Robin Niblett, director of the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London, said divisions within NATO seem to be harming the strategy as much as Gadhafi's new tactics.

Getting aid to the rebels is becoming problematic but the United Nations' aid chief hasn't accepted a European Union offer of military escorts, the BBC reported.

Valerie Amos warned against blurring the lines between military operations and relief work in Libya.

Fighting between Gadhafi forces and rebels in the besieged city of Misurata has resulted in the death of two Western journalists.

Pulitzer-prize winning war photographer Chris Hondros of Getty Images died of his wounds several hours after the a mortar attack that killed Tim Hetherington, who co-directed this year's Oscar-nominated Afghanistan documentary "Restrepo."

The White House said it was "deeply saddened to hear that journalist Chris Hondros has died as the result of injuries sustained while covering the conflict in Misurata. Chris' tragic death underscores the need to protect journalists as they cover conflicts around the globe."