LONDON, May 15: Nato must broaden its range of bombing targets in Libya or run the risk of Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi clinging on to power, Britain’s chief of defence staff was quoted as saying on Sunday.General David Richards suggested in an interview that Nato should attack Libyan infrastructure, which is not yet on its target list. Nato is bombing Libya under a UN mandate to protect civilians and says it strikes only military targets. The leaders of Britain, France and the United States say they will not halt the campaign until Qadhafi leaves power.

Richards said the military campaign to date had been a “significant success” for Nato, but it needed to do more. “If we do not up the ante now there is a risk that the conflict could result in Qadhafi clinging to power,” the Sunday Telegraph newspaper quoted him as saying. “At present, NATO is not attacking infrastructure targets in Libya. But if we want to increase the pressure on Qadhafi’s regime then we need to give serious consideration to increasing the range of targets we can hit.”—Reuters

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