Gaddafi compound hit in fresh NATO air strikes
A building inside Muammar Gaddafi's Tripoli compound was hit by NATO air
strikes early Monday in what the regime says was an attempt on the Libyan
leader's life. NATO forces have appeared to step up the pace of strikes on
Tripoli in recent days.
By William EDWARDS (video)
News Wires (text)
REUTERS - NATO forces flattened a building inside Muammar Gaddafi's Bab
al-Aziziyah compound early on Monday, in what a press official from Gaddafi's
government said was an attempt on the Libyan leader's life.
Firefighters were still working to extinguish flames in a part of the ruined
building a few hours after the attack, when foreign journalists were brought to
the scene in Tripoli.
The press official, who asked not to be identified, said 45 people were hurt in
the strike, 15 of them seriously, and some were still missing. That could not
be independently confirmed.
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Gaddafi's compound has been struck before, but NATO forces appear to be
stepping up the pace of strikes in Tripoli in recent days. A target nearby,
which the government called a car park but which appeared to cover a bunker,
was hit two days ago.
The United States, Britain and France say they will not stop their air campaign
over Libya until Gaddafi leaves power.
Washington has taken a backseat role in the air war since turning over command
to NATO at the end of March but is under pressure to do more. This week it sent
Predator drone air craft, which fired for the first time on Saturday.
Government troops bombarded the western rebel bastion of Misrata again on
Sunday, a day after announcing their withdrawal following a two month siege. A
government spokesman said the army was still carrying out its plan to withdraw
from the city, but had fired back when retreating troops were attacked.
"As our army was withdrawing from Misrata it came under attack by the rebels.
The army fought back but continued its withdrawal from the city," Mussa Ibrahim
told reporters.
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Rebels fear that Qaddafi forces, contrary to their official announcement, had
never had any real intention to withdraw from Misrata
Cyril Vanier, FRANCE 24's special correspondent reporting from Benghazi, Libya.
The government says its army is withdrawing from the city and sending in armed
tribesmen instead. Rebels say the announcement may be part of a ruse to mask
troop movements or stir violence between rebels and locals in nearby towns.
Rebel leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil told a news conference in Kuwait that the Gulf
state had agreed to contribute 50 million Kuwaiti dinars ($177 million) to his
rebel council to help pay workers in the east of the country under its control.
"This amount will help us a lot in paying the salaries of employees who did not
receive their little salaries for two months," he said. "We are capable of only
covering 40 percent of this amount. We are in need of urgent aid."
The rebels have been seeking international recognition as well as material
support from the west and the Arab world.
They have been unable to advance from eastern Libya as they fight back and
forth with Gaddafi's troops on the coastal road between the towns of Ajdabiyah
and Brega, hampered by their lack of firepower, equipment and training.
Abdel Jalil also said the rebels had received weapons from "friends and
allies", but did not specify which countries or organisations had donated them.
Restarting oil production in rebel-held areas would be a huge boost to the
insurgents. A rebel oil official said companies could resume work as soon areas
are secure.
"For Sirte Oil and Zueitina, we have people ready to move in as soon as they
are safe to move, » Wahid Bugaighis, head of the National Oil Company, said in
Benghazi. He said rebels had made about $129 million from their only shipment
of crude oil so far exported this month with the help of Gulf Arab state
Qatar but had had to pay $75 million for a single cargo of gasoline.
Misrata bombarded
In Misrata, a mood of victory was short-lived and the prospect of a turning
point in the conflict dimmed on Sunday.
"The situation is very dangerous," rebel spokesman Abdelsalam said by telephone
from the city. "Gaddafi's brigades started random bombardment in the early
hours of this morning. The bombardment is still going on."
Captured government troops said on Saturday they had been ordered to retreat
after a siege of nearly two months, but rebels now say they believe it was a
government ruse.
"I don't think this is a real withdrawal," rebel military spokesman Ahmed Bani
told Reuters in Benghazi.
He said government loyalists might be trying to stoke tensions between Misrata
and neighbouring towns, and that Gaddafi's troops might return to the city
later under the guise of intervening to protect local tribes from the rebels.
"What has been said by Gaddafi's regime about withdrawal or suspension of
operations has no basis in truth, » national council spokesman Abdel Hafiz
Ghoga told reporters in Benghazi.
"They've fallen back to the western area of Misrata," he said, referring to
Gaddafi's troops. "They are also surrounding Misrata from its eastern entrance."
At least three people were killed in the mountain town of Zintan, around 160 km
(100 miles) southwest of Tripoli, by fire from Gaddafi's tanks and rockets,
residents said.
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