NATO aircraft pound Tripoli; U.S. envoy courts rebels
Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- NATO aircraft launched a barrage of strikes on the Libyan capital Tuesday in what a government official called the heaviest onslaught since the aerial strikes began.
At least 18 rockets struck Tripoli while a U.S envoy was in the eastern rebel-held city of Benghazi courting members of the transitional government.
Jeffery Feltman, the U.S Assistant Secretary of State for the near Eastern Affairs, told reporters in Benghazi that he had extended a "formal invitation" to the National Transitional Council to open a representative office in Washington -- and that the council has accepted the invitation.
Feltman said he came to reiterate a message from President Barack Obama that "Gadhafi has lost legitimacy to rule. He cannot regain control of Libya. And he must step down immediately."
After the air strikes Tuesday morning, smoke was seen rising from the area near Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi＇s Bab-al-Azizia compound in Tripoli.
Moussa Ibrahim, a Libyan government spokesman, said the attack targeted a guard compound for pro-Gadhafi military volunteers that had been emptied in anticipation.
At least three people were killed and 150 wounded, Ibrahim said, calling the attack an escalation by NATO.
Reporters felt and heard the explosions from the hotel where they are staying. Outbursts of gunfire, as well as ambulance sirens, could be heard in the streets.
A NATO statement said the attack targeted a "regime vehicle storage facility" adjacent to the Bab-al-Azizia compound using precision-guided weapons.
The facility resupplies government forces that have been attacking Libyan civilians, according to the NATO statement.
Gadhafi＇s forces "still represent a threat to civilians and we will continue to strike targets that carry out this violence," said Lt. Gen. Charles Bouchard of Canada, who commands the Libya operation.
Journalists later visited a hospital where they reported they saw the bodies of three men, at least two covered in dust, and a number of injured people. CNN did not go on the hospital visit because of safety concerns.
Arrest warrants have been issued by the International criminal Court for Gadhafi and two relatives, linking them to "widespread and systematic" attacks on civilians as they struggle to retain power in Libya.
The court＇s chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, has said that the court in The Hague will investigate allegations of institutionalized rape in the war-torn country.
A Libyan government official told CNN that Gadhafi＇s government welcomes the court＇s investigation but said that prosecutors "have not been to Libya to do an investigation." |
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