Air strike flattens building in Gaddafi's compound

NATO forces flattened a building inside Muammar Gaddafi’s Bab al-Aziziyah compound early on Monday, in what a press official from his government said was an attempt on the Libyan leader’s life.

Firefighters were still working to extinguish flames in 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. Gaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam said the Libyan government would not be cowed by such attacks.

“The bombing which targeted Muammar Gaddafi’s office today... will only scare children. It’s impossible that it will make us afraid or give up or raise the white flag,” he was quoted as saying by the Jana state news agency.

“You, NATO, are waging a losing battle because you are backed by traitors and spies. History has proved that no state can rely on them to win.”

Libyan authorities have contacted Russia, China, Italy, Turkey and other countries to complain about the strike on Gaddafi’s compound, a government statement said.

The compound has been hit before, but NATO forces appear to have stepped 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.

AU DIPLOMACY; MISRATA BOMBARDED
The attack on the compound coincided with a fresh flurry of diplomacy by countries seeking a way out of the Libyan conflict. Russia, which has been critical of the western air strikes as exceeding the UN mandate to protect civilians, urged Tripoli on Saturday to implement an immediate ceasefire.

The African Union was also holding separate talks on Monday 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 Obeidi were also due to meet separately with representatives of the United Nations and the European Union.

“This will be the first time that they (rebels) are attending a meeting here. We will meet both sides one after the other,” Ramtane Lamamra, AU Commissioner for Peace and Security, told Reuters.

The rebels rebuffed an earlier AU peace plan because it did not entail Gaddafi’s departure, while the United States, Britain and France say there can be no political solution until the Libyan leader leaves power. The African Union does not have a good track record in brokering peace deals, having failed recently to end conflicts or disputes in Somalia, Madagascar and Ivory Coast.

The talks brought no relief for people in the besieged western city of Misrata, where residents reported intense bombardment in the early hours of Monday which tailed off when NATO planes flew over.