NATO not targeting Gaddafi: spokeswoman

NATO insisted Thursday it was not targeting Muammar Gaddafi or coordinating with Libyan rebels, after Britain's defence secretary said the alliance was helping to hunt down the elusive leader.

"No specific individual is a target as an individual, whether it's Gaddafi or anybody else," NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu told AFP when asked about British Defence Secretary Liam Fox's comments that the alliance was providing intelligence and reconnaissance assets in the search for Gaddafi.

She said NATO was conducting operations "in full accordance" with its UN mandate to protect the Libyan population from attacks.

"It's important that NATO remains vigilant, and we are absolutely determined to continue our mission as long as it takes to get the job done," she said.

"There are always NATO planes over Libya, that's 24/7, and we continue to monitor the situation including through surveillance and reconnaissance," she said.

She added: "As matter of policy we do not comment on intelligence matters."

NATO has repeatedly denied targeting Gaddafi since Western warplanes began bombing Libyan regime forces in March and has always rejected claims that it was serving as the rebels' proxy air force.

"There is no military coordination with the rebels," Lungescu said.

"We have also said that it's for the people of Libya to decide the fate of Gaddafi and remnants of his regime," she said.

Asked whether the NATO response to Fox's comments were contradictory, she said: "It's not contradictory because we've been saying we do not target individuals."

Fox told Sky News earlier that the alliance was helping track down Gaddafi, whose whereabouts are unknown since rebels stormed into Tripoli on Sunday.

"I can confirm that NATO is providing intelligence and reconnaissance assets to the NTC (National Transitional Council) to help them track down Colonel Gaddafi and other remnants of the regime," who fled before advancing rebel forces on Tuesday, he told Sky News.

The British Ministry of Defence said Fox was referring to "various assets such as military planes."

Fox refused however to confirm reports that Britain's SAS special forces were working with the Libyan rebels to track down Gaddafi.

Lungescu reiterated that NATO has no forces on the ground in Libya under its command.

"We never have, don't at the moment and won't in the future," she said.