The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is set to assume full command of military operations within two days, in hopes that there would be a political end to the situation.

On Sunday, the 28-nation alliance has reached an agreement to take full responsibility of air strikes as well as enforcing the no-fly zone and arms embargo. The French and British governments called on Gaddafi’s supporters to withdraw their support before the situation becomes too late and called on the opposition to participate in a political process to oust their leader.

According to Oana Lungescu, NATO’s principal spokeswoman, the transition of command is expected to take place in two days. The alliance is planning for a 90-day operation but this is dependent on the United Nations. All members of the alliance would have be directly or indirectly involved in the operation but the alliance is hoping for a short mission.

On Tuesday, 35 nations will converge in London to map out plans for a peaceful resolution of the Libya situation. One possible solution would be to establish a multinational force similar to Bosnia during the 1990s. Some members of the alliance have put caveats on their participation. For instance, The Netherlands said it would only participate in air patrols and not on ground operations.

Canadian Lieutenant-General Charles Bouchard, who is in charge of the entire operation, said it had already launched its first mission in imposing the no-fly zone but the ground operations is yet to be launched. Bouchard explained that NATO’s mission is “”to help protect civilians and population centers from attack, or threat of attack.”

Bouchard refused to provide details on the alliance’s rules of engagement when asked about its response if civilians become involved in clashes between rebels and government forces. He said that there action is always aimed at reducing minimal collateral damage and to ensure the safety of the people.

The alliance’s decision to take over operations was delayed by disagreements between France and Turkey concerning the political control of the operations. However, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said their fears have already been addressed.

With NATO in charge of the operations, more countries are expected to become involved and the United States would become part of a collective effort rather than taking the lead role. According to US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, it would start reducing the number of deployed forces in the Libya mission starting this week.

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