BRUSSELS - NATO agreed on Wednesday to a three-month extension of its air and sea campaign in Libya as the country's new rulers try to dislodge well-armed Gadhafi loyalists holding out in several towns.

The agreement to extend the mission, which NATO took full control of on March 31, was reached at a meeting of ambassadors of the 28 NATO states in Brussels, a NATO diplomat said.

It was the second three-month extension to the mission that has involved a campaign of air strikes and a naval mission to enforce a UN arms embargo.