Libya: Nato foreign ministers hold talks in Berlin

Foreign ministers from Nato countries are meeting in Berlin, amid differences among members over the air campaign to protect civilians in Libya.

The UK and France have been pushing for other countries to increase military pressure on Col Muammar Gaddafi.

Air strikes led by the US, France and Britain began last month. Nato has since taken leadership of the mission.

Several key member countries, including Spain and Italy, have not taken part in attacks on ground targets.

Tasks in Nato's Libya mission include policing the arms embargo with ships and enforcing the UN-backed no-fly zone.

The UK and France want more countries involved in the most aggressive role, that of attacking targets on the ground.

Only six out of Nato's 28 members - France, the UK, Canada, Belgium, Norway, Denmark - are conducting air strikes.

There are divisions within the alliance over the campaign, with Turkey and Germany opposed to the Libya mission.

Spanish Foreign Minister Trinidad Jimenez on Thursday said her country would continue to help police the no-fly zone and arms embargo, but reiterated that it would not send combat aircraft to Libya.

Although Italy is also refraining from carrying out air strikes, it allows missions to be flown from its territory.

The Jon Leyne in Benghazi, the rebels' stronghold in eastern Libya, says the Berlin meeting must be seen as a diplomatic counter-offensive by Britain and France to try to increase the tempo, in the face of members that are reluctant to do so.Arming the rebelsIn his opening address at the Berlin meeting, Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen focused on concerns for Libyans civilians.He said the alliance was "acting with care and precision to maximise the effects of our actions, while minimising the danger to citizens".On Wednesday US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is attending the meeting in Berlin, condemned the "continued brutal attacks on the Libyan people" by Col Gaddafi's forces.The US has scaled back its role in Libya, though on Wednesday it clarified that its jets were still carrying out bombing raids on Libya's air defences to enforce the no-fly zone.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev reiterated Moscow's view that the UN resolution on Libya did not authorise the use of force.He was speaking at a meeting of the "Brics" group of five emerging nations - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.After the meeting in China, the five said they shared "the principle that the use of force should be avoided".

The Libya conflict is also being discussed by officials from the African Union and Organisation of the Islamic Conference in Cairo.UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and Arab League head Amr Moussa are among those attending.

Meanwhile fighting is continuing in rebel-held city of Misrata, in western Libya, which has been besieged by pro-Gaddafi forces for almost two months.

A rebel spokesman told Reuters news agency that an early morning attack by Col Gaddafi's forces had killed 23 people on Thursday.

In a interview, Hardi, a rebel leader in the city, urged Nato to carry out more strikes.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and UK Prime Minister David Cameron, who met in Paris on Wednesday, agreed to step up military pressure on Col Gaddafi, a French official said.

The official said the coalition should have "all the means it needs", and that it should show "total determination" to end the sieges of Misrata and Zintan.

Britain said it was to provide the rebels with 1,000 sets of body armour, and that 100 satellite phones had already been sent.

On Wednesday the "contact group" on Libya, which includes Western powers, their Middle Eastern allies and international organisations, met rebel leaders in Doha, Qatar.

It agreed to continue to provide the rebels with "material support", and to consider channelling funds to them.