BRUSSELS (Reuters) - French and British helicopters will be put into action in Libya under NATO command as soon as they are ready, the commander of NATO's operation for the North African country said on Friday.
"These helicopters will be operated under the Unified Protector mandate and therefore NATO command and control ... they will be brought into action as soon as they are ready," Lieutenant-General Charles Bouchardtold a briefing.
Bouchard said the helicopters would have an "aggressive" mission "surely focussed on attacking those forces that are dedicated to bringing violence."
NATO officials said four British Apache attack helicopters were available aboard the assault ship HMS Ocean in the Mediterranean as well as four French Tigres aboard the French helicopter carrier Tonnerre.
British ministers gave clearance in principle for the use of Apaches on Thursday and said NATO could now call on them.
The use of attack helicopters, which are more vulnerable to ground defences than the high-speed jets used up to now, is designed to try to hasten Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's exit, after air raids from higher altitude that began in March.
Military analysts say attack helicopters will allow more precise strikes against forces in built-up areas, while reducing the risk of civilian casualties.
Bouchard said their deployment would not presage the deployment of ground forces in Libya, which Western countries have ruled out.
"My mandate is very clear ... 'No boots on the ground'. In fact the helicopters that are being provided to us are attack helicopters and they are not the type that do mass movement of troops on the ground, and it is not my intention to put boots on the ground."
Bouchard said that, while progress had been made in making the Libyan city of Misrata safe and the situation there was returning to normal, Gaddafi's forces still represented a "clear and present danger" to the population.
He said reports on Friday showed that Gaddafi's forces had laid a field of anti-personnel mines in the Misrata area to prevent civilians from moving, and NATO was looking at ways to deal with this problem.
(Reporting by David Brunnstrom, editing by Rex Merrifield and Kevin Liffey)
