The Italian parliament on Wednesday, May 4 narrowly approved a motion in favour of the country's participation in NATO's military mission in Libya, but called on the government to set a specific deadline for hostilities to end.

In a compromise which saw the motion passed, the government was told to work with foreign allies to determine the time limit for the operation.

But NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said hostilities would stop only when the mission's objectives had been fulfilled - ending attacks on civilians, securing the withdrawal of military forces, and guaranteeing unhindered access to humanitarian aid. ''I am not able to fix a date when the three objectives will be fulfilled,'' he told a news conference in Brussels.

The lower house Chamber of Deputies approved the motion with 309 votes and 294 against. The motion was the fruit of a compromise between Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's People of Freedom Party and the government's junior partner, the Northern League, M&C reported.