TRIPOLI – Nato forces have flattened a building inside Col Muammar Gadafy’s Bab al-Aziziyah compound, in what his officials said was a failed attempt on the Libyan leader’s life.
Nato said the attack early yesterday was on a communications headquarters used to co-ordinate attacks on civilians. A Libyan spokesman said Col Gadafy was unharmed and state TV showed footage of him meeting people in a tent.
Firefighters were still working to extinguish flames in part of the ruined building a few hours after the attack, when foreign journalists were taken to the scene in Tripoli.
A press official said 45 people were hurt in the strike, 15 of them seriously and some were still missing. That could not be independently confirmed.
Col Gadafy’s son Saif al-Islam said the Libyan government would not be cowed by such attacks. “The bombing which targeted Muammar Gadafy’s office . . . will only scare children,” he was quoted as saying by the Jana state news agency.
Libyan authorities have contacted Russia, China, Italy, Turkey and other countries to complain about the strike on the compound, a government statement indicated. The compound has been hit before, but Nato forces appear to have increased strikes in Tripoli in recent days as it maintains what it referred to as a “high operational tempo”. A target nearby, which the government called a car park but which appeared to cover a bunker, was hit two days ago.
The attack on the compound coincided with further diplomatic moves by countries seeking a solution to the Libyan conflict.
The African Union (AU)held separate talks with Libyan foreign minister Abdelati Obeidi and rebel representatives in Addis Ababa to discuss a peace plan.
The rebel representatives, former ambassadors to South Africa and Uganda, and Mr Obeidi were meeting with representatives of the United Nations and European Union.
“This will be the first time that they are attending a meeting here. We will meet both sides one after the other,” said AU commissioner for peace and security Ramtane Lamamra.
The rebels rejected an earlier African Union peace initiative because it did not entail Col Gadafy’s departure, while the United States, Britain and France say there can be no political solution until the Libyan leader cedes power. The union does not have a good record in brokering peace deals, having failed recently to end disputes in Somalia, Madagascar and Ivory Coast.
The talks brought no relief for people in the besieged city of Misrata, where residents reported intense bombardment in the early hours which then stopped when Nato aircraft flew over.
The weekend marked some of the bloodiest fighting of the two-month siege in Misrata despite an statement by Gadafy forces on Friday that they were pulling back.
More than 20 people were killed on Sunday and 28 on Saturday, said medics. A rebel spokesman put the death toll higher.
Residents said Gadafy loyalists had been repulsed from Tripoli Street, centre of the recent battles, to the city outskirts, from where they were occasionally shelling when Nato aircraft were not around.
“Bodies of Gadafy’s troops are everywhere . . . we can’t tell how many. Some have been there for days,” said resident Mohammed Ibrahim, whose cousin was killed at the weekend.
A rebel spokesman, Sami, said the humanitarian situation was worsening rapidly. “It is indescribable. The hospital is . . . full of wounded people, most of them are in critical condition. The quantity of food available in the city is also decreasing. The state of the city is deteriorating.”
A government spokesman in Tripoli said the army still intended to withdraw from the city but had returned fire when retreating troops were attacked.
“As our army was withdrawing from Misrata it came under attack by the rebels,” Mussa Ibrahim said. – (Reuters)