TRIPOLI – Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi survived a NATO air strike
on a Tripoli house that killed his youngest son Saif al-Arab and three young
grandchildren, a government spokesman said on Sunday.
Libyan officials took journalists to the house, which had been hit by at
least three missiles. The roof had completely caved in at places, leaving
mangled rods of steel hanging down among splintered chunks of concrete.
"What we have now is the law of the jungle," government spokesman Mussa
Ibrahim told a news conference. "We think now it is clear to everyone that what
is happening in Libya has nothing to do with the protection of civilians."
The deaths have not been independently confirmed. But they would be sure to
heap pressure on NATO -- which denies targeting the Gaddafi family -- from
opponents of the mission who say it goes beyond its U.N. mandate to protect
civilians.
It would also show the vulnerability of Gaddafi himself.
Fighting in Libya's civil war, which grew from protests for greater political
freedom that have spread across the Arab world, has reached stalemate in recent
weeks with neither side capable of achieving a decisive blow.
Ibrahim said Gaddafi's youngest son, Saif al-Arab, was killed in the attack.
Saif al-Arab, 29, is one of Gaddafi's less prominent sons, with a limited role
in the power structure. Ibrahim described him as a student who had studied in
Germany.
The grandchildren killed were pre-teens, Ibrahim said.
"The leader himself is in good health. He wasn't harmed," he said. "His wife
is also in good health.
"This was a direct operation to assassinate the leader of this country. This
is not permitted by international law. It is not permitted by any moral code or
principle." Reuters
