MARK LANDLER,STEVEN ERLANGER & ALAN COWELL Amid differences among allies about how to manage campaign in Libya,the US military Wednesday said it was stepping up its attacks on military units loyal to Muammar Gaddafi that are besieging rebel-held cities. At sea,reports said six NATO warships had started patrolling off Libyas coast to enforce a UN arms embargo,but Germany,which has opposed military intervention,said it was withdrawing four of its ships in the Mediterranean from NATO command. A senior British commander,Air Vice Marshal Greg Bagwell,said the allies had effectively destroyed the Libyan air force and air defenses and were now able to operate with near impunity across the country,Reuters said. French foreign minister Alain Juppé said representatives from the US,Europe,Africa and Arab nations would meet next week in London to discuss who would be in charge of operations once the initial onslaught on Libyas air defense systems was complete,AP said. President Barack Obama reiterated that the US would step back from the leading role within days,but he also said it was confronting the complexities of running the campaign with a multilateral force cobbled together quickly and without a clear understanding among its members about their roles. He expressed confidence that the coalition would resolve disagreements over NATOs role,which had flared over Frances insistence that the alliance not play a leading role in the operation. NATO now seems likely to provide command and control functions,but with a separate authority running the operation. I would expect that over the next few days you will have clarity and a meeting of the minds of all those participating, he said in El Salvador. The allies were still struggling to corral Arab backing. Obama called up Qatars emir to nail down his support. Qatar is the only Arab state to offer jets to help enforce a no-fly zone,and there were signs other Arab states were wavering in their support. Obama said the coalition would fairly shortly be able to claim it had imposed a no-fly zone over Libya. We will also be able to say we have averted immediate tragedy, he said.
