Rift forces Nato to dig in for long campaign

Troubled by political divisions within its ranks and a lack of firepower up front, Nato seems to have written off hopes of an early exit to the Libyan crisis and instead is aiming for a slow strangulation of Muammar Gaddafi's regime. The 28 Nato countries showed unity at a meeting of foreign ministers in Berlin at the weekend, calling for Gaddafi's departure but failing to throw up any new ways of achieving this. The rift among the allies is deep. France and Britain are shouldering the burden of the three-week-old Nato campaign but are barely restraining frustration at the lack of support from fellow alliance members.