Lee-Anne Goodman of CP reports:
A senior White House official says a Canadian will take over command of the NATO mission in Libya.
The official says Lieutenant-General Charles Bouchard, stationed in Naples, has been designated by NATO as head of the alliance’s military campaign in Libya.
Lt.-Gen. Bouchard will work with “his naval and air component commands” to enforce the no-fly zone and the so-called civilian-protection mission in Libya.
More here.
Bouchard’s bio is on the NATO website here.
UPDATE: US to continue to control air strikes, reports Stars and Stripes.
After intense deliberations, NATO agreed Thursday to begin assuming leadership over the international action against Gadhafi, a step U.S. administration officials had been promising would happen for several days.
But under the partial handoff, the United States will continue to command coalition airstrikes such as those intended to protect civilians in the cities of Ajdibiyah, Misrata and Zintan. There, forces loyal to Gadhafi are dug in and attacking civilians, Gortney said.
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