After nearly three hours of talks at the Pentagon with his US counterpart, Fox painted an optimistic picture of the Libya conflict despite fears on both sides of the Atlantic that the war could turn into an open-ended stalemate.

With Libya's rebels saying they had pushed Kadhafi's troops out of the Western port city of Misrata, Fox touted "progress" in the war and that Kadhafi's regime had lost the initiative.

"We've seen some momentum gained in the last few days," said Fox, standing next to Gates outside the Pentagon.

"We've seen some progress made in Misrata. And it's very clear that the regime is on the back foot," he told reporters.

Both Fox and Gates defended a NATO air strike on Monday against Kadhafi's compound, saying the Libyan leader's offices were a legitimate target.

The British defense minister also vowed the NATO alliance was determined to stay the course in the UN-mandated air campaign, launched on March 19 to protect civilians against Kadhafi's forces.

"We understand our duty. And our resolve will not waiver, as long as that civilian population remains at risk from an aggressive and wicked regime, which has waged war on its own people," Fox said.

Gates, who had warned about the risks of intervention before President Barack Obama backed military action, struck a more cautious tone, saying the United States would continue to play a supporting role in the air campaign after having handed over control of the operation to NATO.

A day after allied warplanes struck Kadhafi's compound in Tripoli, Gates and Fox said that command centers for the regime's forces were legitimate targets but did not say the alliance was trying to kill the Libyan leader.

"We have considered all along command and control centers to be a legitimate target and we have taken those out elsewhere," Gates said.

Fox agreed and said that "as long as that government continues to target civilians, as Secretary Gates says, we will continue to regard all their command-and-control mechanisms as legitimate targets."

NATO hit Kadhafi's compound in Tripoli early Monday, in what the alliance called a "precision strike" on a communications center.

The Tripoli government said the alliance was trying to assassinate Kadhafi but NATO members have sent out mixed signals on the merits of targeting the Libyan leader since the air campaign was launched last month.

"We are not targeting him specifically," Gates said. "But we do consider command-and-control targets legitimate targets, wherever we find them."

The UN resolution approving military intervention focuses on protecting civilians against the regime's forces, but US and European leaders have made clear they want to see an end to Kadhafi's rule.

"The sooner that Colonel Kadhafi recognizes that the game is up, either today or shortly, the better. He is a liability for his people and his country, and the sooner that he gets this message the better," Fox said.

Kadhafi, meanwhile, remained defiant despite the bombing raids against his Tripoli compound and military hardware, including strikes in his birthplace Sirte.

"The leader is working from Tripoli. The leader is well, is very healthy, is leading the battle for peace and democracy in Libya," regime spokesman Mussa Ibrahim said outside the bombed building at Kadhafi's Bab al-Aziziya residence.

earlier related report
Chavez blasts Libya strikes on his 'friend' Kadhafi
Caracas (AFP) April 26, 2011 - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez accused NATO on Tuesday of trying to kill his "friend" Moamer Kadhafi after the alliance bombed the strongman's compound and called it a legitimate target.

"You know that Kadhafi is our friend, but this has nothing to do with friendship. Who has the right to drop bombs like this? They are looking for Kadhafi to kill him," said the leader of Latin America's radical left and Libya's closest ally in the region.

"We don't agree with everything Kadhafi is doing or has done, but who has the right to drop bombs on him each morning? They have been dropped on a commercial center, a hospital, a university. All that for regime change."

Chavez repeated his opposition to the strikes during a meeting of Latin American and Caribbean diplomats in Caracas.

Allied warplanes struck Kadhafi's compound in Tripoli on Monday in what NATO called a "precision strike" on a communications center that did not seek to kill the Libyan leader.

Tripoli said the transatlantic military alliance was trying to assassinate Kadhafi, but NATO members have sent mixed signals since the air campaign was launched last month on the merits of targeting the man who has ruled Libya for four decades.

The UN resolution approving military intervention focuses on protecting civilians against the regime's forces, but US and European leaders have made clear they want to see an end to Kadhafi's rule.

Chavez, meanwhile, also relaunched his proposal to dispatch a peacemaking team to "find a political solution to the problem." Libyan rebels seeking to oust Kadhafi rejected his initial plans when he first presented them in early March and they gained little traction internationally.

For the Venezuelan leader, the foreign intervention in Libya has a single goal in mind: "seize the oil."

Chavez and Kadhafi routinely make public condemnations of US "imperialism" and have exchanged visits in recent years. Ties are so close that Kadhafi was rumored early in the conflict roiling Libya for over two months to have fled to Caracas, claims that were later denied.

Following the NATO raid on his Tripoli compound, Kadhafi remained defiant despite the attack which his regime said killed three people and wounded 45.

"The leader is working from Tripoli. The leader is well, is very healthy, is leading the battle for peace and democracy in Libya," regime spokesman Mussa Ibrahim said outside the bombed building at Kadhafi's Bab al-Aziziya residence.

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