Libya: Nato dismisses claims of civilian casualties

Nato's secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen has dismissed Libyan claims that the alliance's airstrikes have killed more than 1,100 people.

Nato has "no confirmed information" about possible civilian casualties as a result of its bombing, Mr Fogh Rasmussen told reporters in The Hague yesterday.

"We are extremely careful and cautious in identifying legitimate military targets and avoiding civilian casualties," he said. "And actually we have no confirmed information about Nato being responsible for civilian casualties."

On Wednesday, Libya's prosecutor general accused Nato of killing 1,108 people and wounding 4,500; he filed charges against the alliance's chief in a Libyan court.

There have been reports of so-called "friendly fire" incidents in which Nato has been blamed for accidentally killing rebel fighters, but the alliance has no ground troops in Libya to independently check Libyan claims of civilian casualties.

Mr Fogh Rasmussen said he could not take the allegations seriously.