Nato strikes hit Gadhafi compound

Libyan leader shows up on TV

Libyan officials who showed reporters around the scene of the airstrike, at Gadhafi’s Bab al-Aziziyah compound, said three people were killed and 25 wounded.  The corner of a two-storey building was blown away, leaving fragments of concrete on the street below, and deep craters were left in two other locations around the compound, which has been targeted several times since Nato began its campaign.

Government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim told reporters the strikes hit near a spot where dozens of Libyans come every night, some with familiies, to shout slogans in support of Gadhafi.

“The Nato alliance is completely bereft of morality,” Ibrahim said. “No one has the right to say to the people of Libya move away from the cities so we can bombard you.”  “This is our country. We are proud of it. We will continue to be a fighting nation,” he said.

Speculation

Earlier, Gadhafi had drawn a line under nearly two weeks of speculation over his fate when Libyan television showed him meeting officials in a Tripoli hotel. The Libyan leader had not been seen in public since an April 30 strike killed his youngest son and three grandchildren.

He made his appearance on Wednesday in trademark brown robe, dark sunglasses and black hat. Gadhafi was shown greeting a group of tribal leaders who support him.

“You will be victorious,” an old man told Gadhafi.  Four months into a revolt against his rule, Gadhafi is still holding doggedly onto power despite weeks of Nato strikes on his military and command structures. The conflict has now entered stalemate, with Gadhafi in control of most of the west of the country, while the rebels are hemmed in to their stronghold in the east and a few pockets in the west.