Libyan dictator Colonel Muammar Gaddafi
has survived a NATO missile attack that killed his youngest son and
three grandchildren last night.
The Libyan government said that Saif Al-Arab Gaddafi, 29, was killed in
a precision air strike on a house in a compound in Tripoli, the Daily
Mail reports.The Libyans said that Gaddafi and his wife were in the house at the time, but escaped unharmed.
It appears that the property- a large residential villa within a gated compound- was specifically targeted, as the two neighbouring houses were untouched, the report said.
Saif Al-Arab was the lowest-profile of the Libyan leader's sons and is not to be confused with Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi, the dictator's heir-apparent. However, he had played an active role in seeking to quell the rebellion that has seen pro-democracy supporters gain control of the east of the country, including Benghazi.
Gaddafi's supporters called the air strike a failed assassination attempt, and claimed that NATO was now directly targeting their leader, and that this went beyond the remit of United Nations resolutions.
The news of the attack was greeted with anger in Tripoli, where sounds of gunfire could be heard across the city.
Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said that the villa was attacked 'with full power', and that the "attack resulted in the martyrdom of brother Saif Al-Arab Gaddafi and three of the leader's grandchildren."
"The leader and his wife were there in the house, with other friends and relatives. The leader himself is in good health - he wasn't harmed," he said.
"This was a direct operation to assassinate the leader of this country," he claimed, adding that the attacks had no legal, moral or political foundation.
Journalists at the scene reported seeing one unexploded device in a huge crater among the rubble of the house and said that the roof had caved in. It is thought that at least three missiles hit the building, the report said.
Yesterday, Gaddafi had refused to give up power, but said that he was ready for a ceasefire and negotiations provided NATO 'stop its planes'. ANI
