NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen ruled out the possibility of a no-fly zone for Syria, in remarks to an Agence France Presse correspondent as he travelled Monday to Tripoli to mark the end of the alliance's air war in Libya.

"It's totally ruled out. We have no intention whatsoever to intervene in Syria," Rasmussen said when asked if there was a possibility NATO would now spearhead a no-fly zone in Syria.

NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen made a surprise visit to Tripoli on Monday, saying he foresaw no major role left for the alliance in Libya hours before its air mission was due to end officially.

His visit comes seven months after Western powers fired the first barrage of missiles against Gadhafi forces in an air war that played a major role in ousting the veteran dictator.

NATO was on Monday formally ending its Libya mission, which it has hailed as one of its "most successful" yet after its air strikes playing a key role in the overthrow of now-slain despot Moammar Gadhafi.

The no-fly zone and naval blockade, enforced by NATO since March 31, will end at 11:59 pm Libyan time (21:59 GMT), as stipulated by a U.N. Security Council resolution last week that closed the mandate authorizing military action.

Volunteers are still finding dozens of bodies in Moammar Gadhafi’s hometown of Sirte that fell on October 20, including of Libyan civilians killed in a suspected NATO air strike.

Twenty-six unmarked makeshift graves covered by breeze-blocks were discovered at a water treatment plant in Number Two district where pro-Gadhafi fighters put up a final stand after several weeks of heavy bombardment.

The International Criminal Court is in "informal contact" with Seif al-Islam, the fugitive son of slain Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, its prosecutor said on Friday.

"Through intermediaries, we have informal contact with Seif," Luis Moreno-Ocampo said in a statement issued at the court's headquarters in The Hague.

NATO formally decided to end its seven-month mission in Libya on October 31, a diplomat said Friday, despite calls from the country's new rulers for air patrols to continue until the end of the year.

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 veteran ruler Moammar Gadhafi.

The U.N. Security Council unanimously voted Thursday to end the mandate for international military action in Libya, closing another chapter in the war against Moammar Gadhafi’s regime, as the country’s new rulers said they would prosecute the ousted strongman’s killers following a global outcry over his death’s circumstances.

The 15-member council ordered an end to authorization for a no-fly zone and action to protect civilians from 11:59 pm Libyan time on October 31. The mandate was approved in March after Gadhafi launched a deadly assault on opposition protests.

South African mercenaries who allegedly took part in Moammar Gadhafi’s failed escape bid are still taking care of his son Seif al-Islam, the Beeld newspaper said Thursday.

The South Africans were hired by a company with close ties to Gadhafi, training his presidential guard and handling some of his offshore financial dealings, the Afrikaans-language paper said.

NATO decided to delay a formal decision to end Libyan air operations until Friday after Libya's new rulers asked for an extension and Russia demanded U.N. consultations, diplomats said.

In the wake of Moammar Gadhafi's death last week, NATO's decision-making body, the North Atlantic Council (NAC), had been expected to formally agree Wednesday to set October 31 as the date to end the seven-month-old air war.

Qatar revealed for the first time on Wednesday that hundreds of its soldiers had joined Libyan rebel forces on the ground as they battled troops of veteran leader Moammar Gadhafi.

"We were among them and the numbers of Qataris on ground were hundreds in every region," said Qatari chief of staff Major General Hamad bin Ali al-Atiya.