http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ml_libya
NATO strikes Libyan capital after Gadhafi appears TRIPOLI, Libya - NATO airstrikes struck Moammar Gadhafi's fortified compound in Tripoli early Thursday, hours after the Libyan leader appeared on state TV for the first time since his son was killed nearly two weeks ago. Reporters were shown the airstrike damage by Libyan officials, including one who said Gadhafi and his family had moved away from the Bab al-Azaziya compound some time ago. One missile appeared to have targeted some sort of underground bunker at the compound - a sprawing complex of buildings surrounded by towering concrete blast walls. NATO, which has hit the Libyan capital repeatedly this week, said Thursday's attack successfully hit "a large command and control bunker complex in downtown Tripoli that was used to coordinate attacks against civilian populations." At the compound, there was a large hole in the ground near stairs leading to an underground passageway. A missile appeared to have landed and penetrated through a smaller hole before blowing up the gaping crater shown to reporters - a pattern typical of bunker-busting bombs. Another missile made a small, charred hole in a large concrete area that appeared to serve as a corridor between buildings. Yet another dug a crater close to where khaki tents were strung up. A building described as a VIP reception area had part of its facade blown away. Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said three people were killed in Thursday's strikes - a local official and two Libyan journalists who were making a documentary about the hundreds of Libyan civilians who have been sleeping in Gadhafi's compound to show support for their leader. Ibrahim fumed at the persisting NATO airstrikes, which are aimed at supporting Libya's rebel movement and pressuring Gadhafi to end his 42-year authoritarian rule. "All they want is to break our morale, to cause death and destruction everywhere," Ibrahim said. "People are being killed, every single day, every single night." The rebels received a major political boost Thursday when the Obama administration said it was inviting some of their leaders to Washington. The White House said a delegation from the Libyan Transitional National Council will meet Friday with National Security Adviser Tom Donilon and members of Congress. In the eastern city of Benghazi, headquarters for the opposition movement, rebel spokesman Abdel-Hafidh Ghoga claimed that anti-Gadhafi residents in the Tripoli area were staging peaceful demonstrations in many neighborhoods, prompting the regime to deploy troops and tanks in the streets that may have been diverted from other regions. Ghoga, who did not specify the source of his information, said anti-Gadhafi militants had burned a police station in one suburb, and were setting up patrols and checkpoints in other neighborhoods. A local journalist and another resident in Tripoli, reached by telephone from Egypt, told The Associated Press that there have been protests this week in at least three Tripoli neighborhoods, accompanied by exchanges of gunfire between opposition activists and Gadhafi forces. Both spoke only on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisals. The journalist said residents are deeply frustrated by a severe fuel shortage that forces some motorists to spend up to three days in line at gas stations. Gadhafi's compound has been a frequent site of recent airstrikes, including one on April 30 that killed the leader's son, Seif al-Arab. Officials said Gadhafi was in the compound when that strike occurred but escaped unharmed. NATO has repeatedly said all its targets in Libya are military and that it is not targeting Gadhafi or other individuals. In its latest update Thursday, NATO denied targeting the North Korean Embassy in Tripoli - a response to a report by the Libyan state news agency JANA that the embassy had been damaged during one of this week's strikes. Gadhafi had seven sons and one daughter. He also had an adopted daughter who was killed in 1986 when a U.S. airstrike hit the Bab al-Aziziya compound in retaliation for a bombing attack on a German disco in which two U.S. servicemen were killed.. In an apparent effort to dispel rumors that Gadhafi himself had been killed, Libyan state TV showed him meeting tribal leaders, but did not record him speaking. To authenticate the scene, the camera zoomed in on the date on a TV monitor in the room, which read Wednesday, May 11. It was apparently recorded at the hotel where foreign correspondents must reside in Tripoli. Gadhafi did not make himself available to them. The last time Gadhafi had been seen in public previously was April 9, when he visited a school in Tripoli. Intensified NATO airstrikes on Gadhafi's forces across Libya have given a boost to rebels fighting to oust the regime. In all, NATO said, the alliance has carried out more than 2,400 airstrikes since March 31 as part of the effort to assist the rebels and pressure Gadhafi relinquish power. Even though some of the recent reports of rebel advances are difficult to confirm, they seem to represent a major boost for the opposition's military prospects after weeks of stalemate on several fronts. The rebels control most of eastern Libya, but the besieged port city of Misrata - about 125 miles (200 kilometers) southeast of Tripoli - is the only rebel stronghold in the west. Local doctors say more than 1,000 of its residents have been killed in the fighting and shelling during the siege by Gadhafi's forces. Britain said Thursday that it will supply police officers in rebel-held eastern Libya with uniforms and body armor, and help establish a public radio station. The announcement came after Prime Minister David Cameron and other ministers met in London with Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, the rebels' transitional council leader. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [email protected]. -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [email protected] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [email protected] Unsubscribe: [email protected] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 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