Gaddafi’s son and 3 grandchildren die in attack

ANGRY mobs attacked Western embassies and UN offices in Tripoli after NATO bombed Muammar Gaddafi’s family compound, reportedly killing the leader’s second-youngest son and three grandchildren.

Russia accused NATO of exceeding its UN mandate of protecting Libyan civilians with the strike.

Gaddafi and his wife Safiya were in the compound at the time of the attack but were not hurt, said a government spokesman.

The vandalised embassies were empty, but the attacks heightened tensions between the Libyan regime and Western powers, prompting the United Nations to pull its international staff out of the capital.

The rebels, who control most of eastern Libya, have been unable to gain an advantage on the battlefield despite weeks of NATO airstrikes. Alliance officials and leaders denied they were hunting Gaddafi to break the stalemate.

Canadian Lt Gen Charles Bouchard, who commands NATO’s operation in Libya, said that “we do not target individuals”. However, the leaders of the US, Britain and France have said Gaddafi must go, prompting warnings by UN Security Council members Russia, China and Brazil against NATO attempts to change the regime.

The Russian Foreign Ministry accused NATO of a “disproportionate use of force” and cast doubt on NATO’s assertion that it is not targeting Gaddafi or his family. The ministry called for “an immediate ceasefire and the beginning of a political settlement process without preconditions.”

NATO warplanes have shifted their focus in the past two weeks from support for rebels on the front lines to attacking the regime’s communications centres. Saturday’s strike reduced most of the Gaddafi family compound, which takes up an entire block in the residential Garghour neighborhood, to rubble.

Officials said it killed 29-year-old Seif al-Arab Gaddafi, who had survived a 1986 US airstrike on his father’s Bab al-Aziziya residential compound which killed Gaddafi’s adopted daughter.

The complex targeted on Saturday contained three one-story buildings and a large yard with lawns, geranium flower beds, a woodshed, a swing and a table soccer game. A dead deer and a twisted bathtub lay on the debris-strewn grass.

A kitchen clock, knocked from the wall, had stopped a 8:08 and 45 seconds, the time of the explosion. Cooking pots with food had been left on the stove, covered with aluminum foil.

In one of the living rooms, a pile of video games were scattered on a sofa. In what looked like a children’s bedroom, half an apple and a glass container of Nutella stood on a night stand.

After news of the air strike spread in Tripoli, an angry mob burned down the British embassy buildings, including the ambassador’s residence, the British Foreign Office said. Britain has taken a leading role in supporting the rebels.

Britain responded by ordering the expulsion of the Libyan ambassador, saying he must leave by Monday.

The Italian embassy in Tripoli was also burned. Italy withdrew its diplomats weeks ago and promised the attack on the embassy “will not weaken” its determination to continue with its partners in that mission.

The US embassy was also damaged with scorch marks and the windows had been smashed in a guard shack.

The US State Department said it was aware of reported damage to the embassy. “If true, we condemn these attacks in the strongest possible terms.”

Vandals also entered empty UN offices in Tripoli and vehicles were taken. Twelve UN staff left for Tunisia because of the unrest.