NATO operation in Libya 'at its end'

PARIS, Oct. 21 (UPI) -- NATO operations in Libya are over now that Moammar Gadhafi is dead and the new government is in full control, the French foreign minister said Friday.

"I think we can say that the military operation is finished, that the whole of Libyan territory is under the control of the National Transitional Council and that, subject to a few transitory measures in the week to come, the NATO operation has arrived at its end," Alain Juppe told Europe 1 radio.

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the military alliance could end its mission in Libya now that Gadhafi is dead. Gadhafi died of wounds he received during an exchange of gunfire Thursday between Gadhafi loyalists and NTC fighters, officials of the interim government said.

Juppe said NATO's goal wasn't to kill Gadhafi, who had ruled Libya for decades, The Daily Telegraph reported.

"Our goal was to force him to relinquish power," he said. "It was then up to the National Transitional Council to capture and judge him."

The NATO air operation launched nearly 1,000 strike sorties since March 31.