Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi survived a NATO air strike on a Tripoli house that killed his youngest son and three 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 in places, leaving mangled rods of reinforcing 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.”
NATO denied targeting Gaddafi, or his family, but said it had launched air strikes on military targets in the same area of Tripoli as the bombed site seen by reporters.
“NATO continued its precision strikes against regime military installations in Tripoli overnight, including striking a known command and control building in the Bab al-Aziziyah neighbourhood shortly after 1800 GMT Saturday evening,” the alliance said in a statement.
NATO’s commander of Libya operations, Canadian Lieutenant-General Charles Bouchard, said the target was part of a strategy to hit command centres that threaten civilians.
“All NATO’s targets are military in nature … We do not target individuals,” he said in a statement.
Ibrahim said Gaddafi’s youngest son, Saif Al-Arab, had been 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 appearance of an assassination attempt against Gaddafi is likely to lead to accusations that the British- and French-led strikes are overstepping the U.N. mandate to protect civilians.
“I am aware of unconfirmed media reports that some of Gaddafi’s family members may have been killed,” said Bouchard. “We regret all loss of life.”
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a long-time ally of Gaddafi, called it attempted murder.
“There is no doubt the order was given to kill Gaddafi. It doesn’t matter who else is killed, kill Gaddafi … a murder, this is a murder,” he said in Caracas.
