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The military operation against Gadhafi, which on Friday included
airstrikes by British and French jets, remains a U.S.-led operation,
though NATO was preparing to assume at least some command and control
responsibility within days.
A Libyan government delegation meeting
in Ethiopia with African leaders — but not the rebels seeking Gadhafi’s
ouster — said he is ready to talk with his opponents and accept
political reform, possibly including elections. But the delegation also
said Libya is committed to a cease-fire that Gadhafi’s forces have
flouted since the government announced it, and blamed the current
violence on “extremists” and foreign intervention.

NATO named Canadian Lt. Gen. Charles Bouchard to lead its
Libyan operation, finalizing what it hopes will be a unified command to
oversee military action against the North African nation.

Envoys from NATO’s 28 member countries agreed late
Thursday to enforce the no-fly zone over Libya. By Monday, the alliance
expects to start doing so, as well as coordinating naval patrols in the
Mediterranean to enforce the U.N. arms embargo against Gadhafi’s forces.
With further approval expected Sunday, NATO will take over the
responsibility for bombing Gadhafi’s military to protect civilians from
attack.

A NATO official said Friday that NATO now hopes to
launch both operations simultaneously within a couple of days, avoiding
the need for dual commands — NATO for the no-fly zone and the U.S. for
the airstrikes. The official requested anonymity because of regulations
about speaking to the media.

A Qatari fighter jet flew the country’s first
sortie alongside a French jet on Friday to enforce the no-fly zone, the
first non-Western military flight in support of the operation.

“Having our first Arab nation join and start flying
with us emphasizes that the world wants the innocent Libyan people
protected from the atrocities perpetrated by pro-regime forces,” U.S.
Air Forces Africa Commander Maj. Gen. Margaret Woodward said.

Aside from the United Arab Emirates, which has
pledged 12 warplanes, the international effort to protect Gadhafi’s
opponents has no other countries from the Arab League, a 22-member group
that was among the driving forces behind the U.N. Security Council
decision to impose a no-fly zone over Libya. The United States has
provided millions of dollars in equipment to many of the league’s
countries, including Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

Qatar has close ties to the U.S. military, a reputation for international mediation, and hosts the pan-Arab Al-Jazeera network.

“Qatar has been a great ally from Day One,” said
Mustafa Gheriani, spokesman for opposition Benghazi city council. “It’s
an Arab country to be proud of.”

A Health Ministry official, Khaled Omar, said a
total of 114 Libyans have died in the international airstrikes, but he
did not provide a breakdown of how many were soldiers or civilians.

“We think it is immoral and illegal to kill even
our soldiers because we are taking defensive positions only,” said
government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim.

Army Gen. Carter Ham said late Thursday that
although he was not sure whether civilians died in airstrikes, “we have
been very, very precise and discriminate in our targeting.” British
Foreign Secretary William Hague went further, saying there have been “no
confirmed civilian casualties” from airstrikes.

The U.N. Security Council authorized the operation
to protect Libyan civilians after Gadhafi launched attacks against
anti-government protesters who demanded that he step down after 42 years
in power. The airstrikes have sapped the strength of Gadhafi’s forces,
but rebel advances have also foundered, and the two sides have been at
stalemate in key cities.

The rebels claimed late Friday that they had taken
the eastern gates of Ajdabiya, although that could not be independently
confirmed, and such claims have been made before and proven wrong.

Earlier Friday, British and French warplanes hit
near Ajdabiya, destroying an artillery battery and armored vehicles.
Ajdabiya, the gateway to the opposition’s eastern stronghold, and the
western city of Misrata have especially suffered because the rebels lack
the heavy weapons to lift Gadhafi’s siege.

Rida al-Montasser, an activist from Misrata, said
Gadhafi forces fired mortar shells and rocket-propelled grenades from
rooftops along a main street, hitting a market and a residential
building. He said rebels were trying to chase the snipers from rooftops,
and had rounded up about 30 of them so far.

A Libyan delegation met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia,
with five African heads of state to discuss a solution to the crisis.
Rebels, who were not at the Ethiopia meeting, demand Gadhafi’s ouster
and say they will not negotiate with him.

African Union commission chairman Jean Ping said
the AU favors a transition period in Libya that would lead to democratic
elections. The statement is the strongest to come out of the AU since
the Libya crisis began, and could be seen as a strong rebuke to Gadhafi,
who has long been well regarded by the continental body.

Libyan negotiator Abdul-Ati al-Obeidi blamed the
violence in Libya on “extremists” and foreign intervention but said the
government was willing to consider talks.

“We are ready to discuss what the Libyan people
want,” he said. “What kind of reform do they want? If it is elections we
are willing to discuss about the details. We are willing to negotiate
with anyone. These are our people. There is no division between the
Libyan people; there is a division between extremists and the Libyan
people.”

Britain’s senior military spokesman said the international mission was succeeding.

“We have not been able to stop all Col. Gadhafi’s
attacks, and we would never pretend that we could,” Maj. Gen. John
Lorimer told reporters in London Friday. But, he said, “They are losing
aircraft, tanks, guns that they cannot replace. His ability to use these
weapons against his own people is diminished daily.”

NATO also heads the ship blockade, but British
officials on Friday have refused to say whether NATO ships would patrol
the rebel-held coastal areas in the east. A slide shown to journalists
Friday seemed to underline the ambiguity of the naval arms embargo.

“The entire coast will need to be monitored,” said
Capt. Karl Evans, who briefed reporters at the Ministry of Defense in
London. Behind him, a map of Libya visualizing the NATO blockade showed
only the 600 miles (965 kilometers) of Gadhafi-controlled coastline
highlighted in red, with the rebel-held east seemingly left out.

When pressed, senior military spokesman Lorimer intervened, saying that “we don’t have those kinds of details here.”

In Washington, the White House announced that
President Barack Obama will give a speech to the nation Monday
explaining his decision-making on the Libyan war.

The timing comes as some lawmakers of both major
parties have complained that Obama has not sought their input about the
U.S. role in the war or explained with enough clarity about the U.S.
goals and exit strategy.