Unrest grows in Gaddafi stronghold Tripoli

Pressure is mounting on Muammar Gaddafi from within his stronghold in the Libyan capital, with increasing Nato air strikes, worsening shortages of fuel and goods and a wave of anti-government protests in several neighbourhoods, according to an activist.

Gaddafi’s rebel opposition, meanwhile, received major political boosts from abroad. Britain promised to provide them with police gear and the Obama administration invited a rebel delegation to the White House for talks today.

Highlighting the pressure, the sound of two Nato strikes could be heard early today. It was not immediately clear what they targeted. They followed a round of Nato air strikes early yesterday that hit Gaddafi’s fortified compound in Tripoli.

Just hours beforehand, the Libyan leader had appeared on state TV for the first time since his son was killed nearly two weeks ago. Before his appearance, rumours swirled that he had been killed or injured.

Reporters were shown the air strike damage by Libyan officials, including one who said Gaddafi and his family had moved away from the Bab al-Aziziya compound some time ago. One missile appeared to have targeted some sort of underground bunker at the compound – a sprawling complex of buildings surrounded by towering concrete blast walls.

Nato, which has hit the Libyan capital repeatedly this week, said yesterday’s attack successfully hit “a large command and control bunker complex in downtown Tripoli that was used to co-ordinate attacks against civilian populations”.

Early today an anti-government activist in Tripoli said there had been protests this week in at least three neighbourhoods in the capital, accompanied by exchanges of gunfire between opposition activists and Gaddafi forces.

He said he saw soldiers in one neighbourhood, Fashloum, flooding the area and patrolling the streets in vehicles. He said he did not personally see a demonstration there but heard from other activists that there was a brief gun battle.

Gunfire could be heard in a separate neighbourhood close to the hotel where reporters must stay.

The activist’s report echoed those made earlier to The Associated Press by a local journalist and resident yesterday. All spoke on anonymously for fear of reprisals.

Reporters cannot independently confirm the information because they may not leave their Tripoli hotel without government minders.

When Tripoli residents tried to protest against Gaddafi earlier in the uprising, gunmen in speeding cars tore through and fired wildly into the crowds, making many fearful to go out in the streets and demonstrate.

The activist said residents are deeply frustrated by a severe fuel shortage that forces some motorists to spend up to three days in line at petrol stations.

The price of black market fuel had reached 100 dinars for five gallons of petrol – in comparison to the government price of three dinar for the same amount. The government sells petrol for 15 Libyan cents a litre.

He added there were sharp shortages in medicines and the price of some basic foods had doubled and tripled.

The head of the rebels’ transitional government, Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, said during a top-level visit to London yesterday that Gaddafi opponents in Tripoli were in the process of acquiring weapons and predicted they would eventually contest regime forces in the capital.

The rebels control most of eastern Libya, while Gaddafi controls most of the west, including Tripoli.

The besieged port city of Misrata – about 125 miles south east 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 Gaddafi’s forces.

According to Nato, Gaddafi’s forces dispatched a number of small speedboats to attack Misrata’s port early yesterday, but they were repelled by Canadian, British and French warships on the scene.

In Tripoli, Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said three people were killed in yesterday’s Nato strikes – a local official and two Libyan journalists making a documentary about civilians sleeping in Gaddafi’s compound to show support for their leader.

Ibrahim fumed at the persistent air strikes, which are aimed at pressuring Gaddafi to end his 42-year authoritarian rule.

“All they want is to break our morale, to cause death and destruction everywhere,” he said. “People are being killed, every single day, every single night.”

Gaddafi’s compound has been a frequent site of recent air strikes, including one on April 30 that killed the leader’s son, Seif al-Arab. Officials said Gaddafi 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 Gaddafi or other individuals. In its latest update yesterday, 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.