Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the NATO secretary general, has hailed the end of the alliance's military intervention in Libya.

Rasmussen, who travelled to Tripoli, spoke to Al Jazeera about NATO's decision to end its mission in Libya, where it had operated under a UN Security Council mandate to protect civilians there.

He said that "a significant threat against civilian populations no longer existed in Libya".

"We have fulfilled UN mandate and prevented massacre of Libyan population. The mission was a great success," he said.