Alliance warplanes would wind up the mission on Monday after flying more than 26,000 sorties and bombing almost 6,000 targets in an operation that helped a ragtag rebel force oust Muammar Gaddafi.

The "operation in Libya will end on 31 October 2011. Our military job is now done," Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the Nato secretary general, wrote on Twitter after alliance ambassadors formally agreed to end the mission.

The alliance had made a preliminary decision last week to end operations on October 31 after judging that civilians were essentially safe from attacks following Kadhafi's death and the fall of Sirte.

The formal decision on Friday came one day after the UN Security Council unanimously voted to end the mandate that authorised military action in Libya from 11:59pm Libyan time (2159 GMT) on October 31.