Pakistan says NATO ignored its pleas during attack

The NATO airstrikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers lasted almost two hours and continued even after Pakistani commanders had pleaded with coalition forces to stop, the army claimed Monday in charges that could further inflame anger ....

NATO chief falls off bike, breaks arm

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen fell off his bicycle and broke his arm at the weekend, forcing him to call off a planned visit to the Baltic states this week, a NATO spokeswoman said.

“He was biking in the woods in Brussels on Sunday and crashed,” NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said today.

In Tripoli, Nato chief hails ‘free Libya’

Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen listens to journalists questions during a Nato conference in Budapest on November 19, 2009


Nato chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen yesterday hailed the end of the alliance’s military intervention in Libya, which helped bring about the death of deposed leader Muammar Gaddafi.

“It’s great to be in Libya, free Libya,” Rasmussen told a news conference in the capital Tripoli. “We acted to protect you. Together we succeeded. Libya is finally free, from Benghazi to Brega, from Misrata to the Western Mountains and to Tripoli.”

He said he was proud of the part Nato had played in the seven-month insurgency against Gaddafi, in which Nato planes and ships turned their firepower on his forces.

Shortly after Rasmussen spoke, members of the ruling National Transitional Council elected a new interim prime minister, whose predecessor resigned after Libya was officially declared liberated.




“At midnight tonight a successful chapter in Nato history will come to an end. You have already started writing a new chapter in Libya’s history. Our commanders were very careful to make sure we did not harm you or your families,” he said.

Despite Rasmussen’s depiction of the mission, the Nato intervention caused sharp rifts in the alliance and lasted much longer than Western nations had expected or wanted.

Nato stuck to its decision to end the operation despite NTC calls for it to stay engaged longer and says it does not expect to play a major post-war role, though it could assist the transition to democracy by helping with security sector reform.

Nato took over the mission on March 31, based on a United Nations mandate that set a no-fly zone over Libya and permitted foreign military forces, including Nato, to use “all necessary measures” to protect Libyan civilians.

That mandate was terminated last Thursday, despite a request for the UN Security Council to wait for the NTC to decide if it wanted Nato help to secure its borders.

The mission was criticised by some countries, notably Russia and China, which, after co-sponsoring the UN resolution authorising intervention in Libya, accused Nato of overstepping its mandate to protect civilians.

“TRUE ALLIANCE EFFORT”

Nato allies have been keen to see a quick conclusion to a costly effort that has involved more than 26,000 air sorties and round-the-clock naval patrols at a time when budgets are under severe strain because of the global economic crisis.

But Nato officials said members of the alliance are free to give further security aid to Libya individually.

The NTC officially announced Libya’s liberation on October 23, days after the capture and killing of Gaddafi. Nato commanders have said they believe the interim administration is able to take care of the country’s security.

In a sign that the NTC is pressing ahead with rebuilding the administration, Tripoli academic Abdul al-Raheem al-Qeeb was elected interim prime minister on Monday in a vote conducted by NTC members in front of reporters.

The previous interim prime minister, Mahmoud Jibril, fulfilled a promise to resign after Libya was declared officially “liberated” after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi’s home town Sirte and his subsequent killing.

The NTC has promised to hold elections after eight months for a national assembly that will spend a year drawing up a new constitution before a parliamentary poll.

Libya has been the first Nato operation in which the United States sought to step back from a leading role and prompted some sharp criticism from Washington of the capabilities of allies after they failed to secure the quick results hoped for.

The US ambassador to Nato, Ivo Daalder, and the alliance’s top operations commander, US Admiral James Stavridis, hailed the success of the mission yesterday in a commentary in the New York Times, but reiterated the need for allies to address the shortcomings in capabilities it revealed.

While calling it a “true alliance effort” in which non-US allies flew 75 per cent of the air missions, they said the United States played a leading role in destroying Libya’s air defence system and providing crucial resources, including the vast majority of intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and the aerial refuelling assets.

Fourteen Nato members and four other states provided naval and air forces, but only eight Nato nations took part in combat missions. Some big Nato states, notably Germany, had opposed the intervention.

Daalder and Stavridis said US planes flew a quarter of all sorties over Libya, France and Britain a third of all missions — most of them strike operations — and the remaining participants flew roughly 40 per cent.

NATO concludes Libya mission after seven months

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen speaks at a news conference after talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the Chancellery in Berlin on October 27, 2011.

NATO ends its military operation in Libya at midnight today, seven months after launching an air and sea campaign that helped bring the overthrow and death of Muammar Gaddafi.

In announcing the decision last week, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen called it “one of the most successful” operations in the history of the 62-year-old alliance.

Rasmussen will mark the end of the mission by visiting Libya today, where he will meet Libya’s National Transitional Council and members of civil society, the alliance said.

Despite Rasmussen’s depiction of the mission, the NATO intervention caused sharp rifts in the alliance and went on much longer than Western nations had expected or wanted.



NATO stuck to its decision to end the operation despite NTC calls for it to stay engaged longer and says it does not expect to play a major post-war role, although it could assist the transition to democracy by helping with security sector reform.

NATO took over the mission on March 31, based on a United Nations mandate that set a no-fly zone over Libya and permitted foreign military forces, including NATO, to use “all necessary measures” to protect Libyan civilians.

That mandate was terminated last Thursday, despite a request for the UN Security Council to wait for the NTC to decide if it wants NATO help to secure its borders.

NATO allies have been keen to see a quick conclusion to a costly effort that has involved more than 26,000 air sorties and round-the-clock naval patrols at a time when budgets are under severe strain due to the global economic crisis.

But NATO officials said members of the alliance are free to give further security aid to Libya individually.

The NTC officially announced Libya’s liberation on October 23, days after the capture and death of Gaddafi. NATO commanders have said they believe the interim administration is able to take care of the country’s security.

Libya has been the first NATO operation in which the United States sought to step back from a leading role and prompted some sharp criticism from Washington of the capabilities of allies after they failed to secure the quick results hoped for.

The US ambassador to NATO, Ivo Daalder, and the alliance’s top operations commander, US Admiral James Stavridis, hailed the success of the mission today in a commentary in the New York Times, but reiterated the need for allies to address the shortcomings in capabilities it revealed.

While calling it a “true alliance effort” in which non-US allies flew 75 per cent of the air missions, they said the United States played a leading role in destroying Libya’s air defence system and providing critical resources, including the vast majority of intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and the aerial refuelling assets.

Fourteen NATO members and four other states provided naval and air forces, but only eight NATO nations took part in combat missions. Some big NATO states, notably Germany, had opposed the intervention.

Daalder and Stavridis said US planes flew a quarter of all sorties over Libya, France and Britain a third of all missions ― most of them strike operations ― and the remaining participants flew roughly 40 percent.

NATO deploys helicopters to raise pressure on Gaddafi

A French military attack helicopter takes off from the deck of the French Navy helicopter carrier Tonnerre, to participate in their first military operation in Libya, in this June 3, 2011 photograph released by the French military on June 4, 2011. NATO employed attack helicopters to hit targets in Libya for the first time on Saturday, an alliance statement said.


British and French attack helicopters were used to strike inside Libya for the first time overnight today, hitting targets in the oil port of Brega as NATO forces stepped up their air war against Muammar Gaddafi.

A NATO-led military alliance extended its mission to protect civilians in Libya for a further 90 days this week, and France said it was stepping up military pressure as well as working with those close to Gaddafi to try to persuade him to quit.

“This was the first operational mission flown by British Army Apaches at sea,” British Secretary of State for Defence Liam Fox said.

“The additional capabilities now being employed by NATO further reinforces the UK’s enduring commitment and NATO’s determination to... ensure that the people of Libya are free to determine their own future.”



Military analysts say attack helicopters will allow more precise strikes against pro-Gaddafi forces hiding in built-up areas than the high-flying jets used so far, while reducing the risk of civilian casualties.

But given the vulnerability of helicopters to ground fire, their deployment also increases the risk of Western forces suffering their first casualties of the campaign.

Speaking in the rebel-held eastern city of Benghazi, the head of the rebel council Mustafa Abdel Jalil welcomed NATO’s deployment of attack helicopters.

“We welcome any measures that would expedite the departure of Gaddafi and his regime,” he told reporters in the eastern rebel stronghold of Benghazi, where British Foreign Secretary William Hague later arrived for talks with council members.

Critics of the war have warned of “mission creep” but NATO has said the use of helicopters would not presage the deployment of ground troops, which Western nations have ruled out.

Now in its fourth month, the Libyan conflict is deadlocked, with rebels unable to break out of their strongholds and advance towards Tripoli, where Gaddafi appears to be entrenched.

Rebels control the east of Libya around Benghazi and the Western Mountains stretching from the town of Zintan, 150km south of Tripoli, towards the border with Tunisia.

Rebel fighters repelled an attack by Gaddafi’s forces against one of their checkpoints on the eastern edges of the rebel-held city of Misrata today, a Reuters journalist there said. One rebel was killed and another was wounded in the clashes, medical workers said.

Gaddafi’s forces also shelled Nalut, injuring at least ten people, a rebel spokesman said by phone from the rebel-held Western Mountains town.

NATO’s helicopter attacks struck military targets around the eastern town of Brega, location of an oil export terminal.

Rebel forces swept west through Brega early in the uprising before retreating from near Gaddafi’s home town of Sirte in late March. Gaddafi’s forces have since dug in around the oil town.

“The Apaches were tasked with precision strikes against a regime radar installation and a military checkpoint, both located around Brega,” said Major General Nick Pope, the Chief of the Defence Staff’s Strategic Communications Officer.

“In the same area, Royal Air Force ground attack aircraft destroyed another military installation, whilst a separate RAF mission successfully attacked two ammunition bunkers at the large Waddan depot in central Libya.”

In the latest diplomatic setback for Gaddafi, China made its first confirmed contact with Libyan rebels this week following a spate of defections by high profile figures including senior oil official and former prime minister Shokri Ghanem.

Libyan rebels and NATO have made Gaddafi’s departure a condition for agreeing a ceasefire in the conflict, but he emphatically told visiting South African President Jacob Zuma this week he would not leave Libya.

“He is more and more isolated,” French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe told Europe 1 radio. “There have been more defections around him and we have received messages from his close entourage which has understood that he must leave power.”

In Beijing, a terse Chinese Foreign Ministry statement said Beijing’s ambassador to Qatar, Zhang Zhiliang, had met and “exchanged views on developments in Libya” with Mustafa Abdel Jalil, the chairman of the rebel council that is trying to offer itself as a credible temporary alterative to Gaddafi.

The ministry gave no details but the meeting itself was an indication that Beijing wants to keep open lines of communication with the rebel forces.

The United Nations has said government-held parts of Libya were running out of food and the capital Tripoli this week saw the first big protest in months against Gaddafi’s 41-year rule.

Gaddafi says the rebels are armed criminals and al Qaeda militants, and has called the NATO intervention an act of colonial aggression designed to grab Libya’s plentiful oil.

Libya's oil minister defects to 'fight for democracy'

Shukri Ghanem told reporters in Rome: 'I have left my country and my work to unite myself with the choice of young Libyans to fight for a democratic country.' Photograph: Gregorio Borgia/AP Libya's oil minister Shukri Ghanem has defected and ...

Despite warning, Karzai knows US is an ally, says Gates

Afghan President Hamid Karzai recognises that the United States is a friend and ally even as he warns that civilian casualties in Afghanistan risk making US-led troops appear to be an occupying force, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said yesterday.

Gates, who spoke to reporters in Hawaii while en route to an Asian security conference, was reacting to Karzai’s statement yesterday that raids on Afghan homes in pursuit of insurgents are “not allowed” and his threat to take action if a spate of civilian casualties does not stop.

Karzai expressed anger over Nato air strikes on Sunday in southern Helmand Province that killed at least nine people, most of them small children.



“This is a continuing challenge that we face in the kind of war that we are fighting in Afghanistan,” Gates told reporters, when asked about Karzai’s comments.

“I think joint investigations of these incidents, when they happen, are important so that we can mutually figure out what exactly happened and what, if anything, went wrong,” he said.

Gates noted that General David Petraeus, the head of Nato-led forces in Afghanistan, had a good dialogue with Karzai and that 80 per cent of civilian casualties in Afghanistan are caused by the Taliban.

“The Afghan people have put up with 30 years of war and I think President Karzai is reflecting the pain and suffering the Afghan people have had to endure,” Gates said.

“But at the same time I think he also recognises, and the Afghan people do, that we are their ally, that we are their friend and we are trying to help them develop the capability to protect themselves so that the Afghan people can see an end to this kind of conflict.”

President Barack Obama plans in July to start a gradual drawdown of US troops in Afghanistan.

White House spokesman Jay Carney earlier yesterday reiterated US regret for civilian casualties and said the United States would continue its efforts to reduce them in coordination with Nato and Afghan officials.

“We do not operate in a vacuum in that country and will continue to work with President Karzai on this important issue because we take very seriously his concerns and we share them,” Carney told reporters in Washington.

Bombing will continue in Libya as Nato mission is extended by 90 days

# Cameron denies British soldiers are now on the ground
# Latest air strikes destroy government ammunition dumps

Britain has welcomed Nato's decision to extend its mission in Libya for a further 90 days, which could see operations continue almost to the end of September.

Operations to enforce the no-fly zone and use air power to protect civilians were authorised for an initial 90 days - up to the end of June - when the military alliance took over command on March 31.

But with dictator Muammar Gaddafi still holding firm in the face of international military action, the allies have agreed an extension today.

The development came as UN investigators said that both Gaddafi and the forces of the opposition have committed war crimes in Libya.

A report by three UN-appointed experts called on both sides to conduct transparent and exhaustive investigations and bring those responsible to justice.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister David Cameron's official spokesman insisted that Britain has no combat troops in Libya, following the publication of photographs which appear to show Westerners on the ground in the country.

Men reported to be ex-SAS soldiers were pictured training the rebels. The Guardian reported that some were being used by Nato to identify targets in Misrata, while the Daily Mirror quoted a source saying they were 'representing Britain'.

But Government sources insisted there was no funding of such help for the rebels.

A private security firm is thought to have been employed to protect a joint Foreign Office and Ministry of Defence team sent to the rebel stronghold of Benghazi to offer technical assistance.

Asked if the UK was paying private security firms engaged in Libya, Mr Cameron's spokesman said: 'We have had an FCO/MoD team in Benghazi. Clearly we take their security seriously and have arrangements in place.'

 Target: Soldiers and civilians gather in front of a burning official building following a recent airstrike in Tripoli

 Danger zone: Smoke billows from a blast in the parking lot of the Tibesti hotel in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi yesterday

More on the way: Enhanced Paveway bombs arrive in Gioia Del Colle, Italy, from where the RAF is launching bombing raids on Libya

He added: 'We do not have any combat forces in Libya and we have repeatedly said that we have no intention of sending any. Any military activity that we undertake will be in accordance with the [United Nations] Security Council Resolution 1973.'

The decision to extend the Nato mission was made at a meeting of ambassadors from the 28 Nato countries plus ambassadors from the five non-Nato countries participating in the Libya campaign - Jordan, Qatar, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates and Morocco.

Secretary-general Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the extension 'sends a clear message to the Gaddafi regime - we are determined to continue our operation to protect the people of Libya'.

And Foreign Secretary William Hague described the decision as 'an important reaffirmation of the international community's resolve and determination to implement fully UNSCR 1973 and protect the people of Libya'.

'The UK will continue to work closely with our international partners to support the legitimate aspirations and demands of the Libyan people,' he said.

The Ministry of Defence announced that massive stocks of ammunition were destroyed in the latest Nato air strikes in Libya, which saw RAF Typhoon and Tornado jets destroying up to ten bunkers containing armaments being used to repress rebels.

Military spokesman Major General John Lorimer said: 'RAF ground attack aircraft conducted successive strikes against one of Colonel Gaddafi's largest ammunition depots, located at Waddan.

'As Nato operations have taken their toll on stockpiles closer to the coast, the regime has become increasing dependent on Waddan for the ammunition to sustain its attacks on the civilian population.

'The Tornado and Typhoon strikes yesterday destroyed ten ammunition bunkers and a military vehicle at the depot.'

The commander of the U.S. military's Africa Command, General Carter Ham, voiced concern that weapons from Libya might end up in the hands of the Al Qaeda terror network.

'There is a very real concern for all the regional partners, and the United States shares this concern, about the proliferation of weapons from Libya to other places, including those under the control of Al Qaeda and others,' said Gen Ham.

Tensions increase in Pakistan after Nato helicopter injures two soldiers in attack on Afghan border

A Nato helicopter attacked a Pakistani army post near the Afghan border today, injuring two Pakistani soldiers in an incident that could further increase tensions following the U.S. raid that killed Osama Bin Laden, Pakistani intelligence officials said.

Nato confirmed there were helicopters flying near the Pakistani border and was investigating the reported attack.

‘There were helicopters operating in the border region, and we are aware there has been an incident,’ said Nato coalition spokesman Lt. Col. John Dorrian. ‘But we are going to have to assess the situation.’

Catch it if you can: A U.S Marine Cobra attack helicopter fires diversionary flares as it flies near Forward Operating Base Edi in the volatile Helmand Province

Fearsome: Cobra attack helicopters, like this one pictured in southern Afghanistan, are regularly used to battle the Taliban

He declined to give further details or say which Nato country was involved.

Most of the helicopters that fly in that part of Afghanistan are American.

Nato helicopters that fly in the area are outfitted with equipment that monitors whether they cross over the Pakistani border, said a Nato official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. Authorities are now reviewing that equipment, said the official.

The attack took place this morning in the Datta Khel area of the North Waziristan tribal region, said the Pakistani intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

Pakistani troops responded with machine gun fire and deployed two helicopter gunships over the post, but the Nato helicopter had already left, they said.

It is unclear how Pakistan will respond if the Nato helicopter attack is confirmed.

Last September, a U.S. helicopter attack killed two Pakistani soldiers at an outpost near the Afghan border, prompting Pakistan to close a key border crossing for 11 days that Nato uses to ship goods into landlocked Afghanistan. The U.S. apologised, saying the pilots mistook the soldiers for insurgents being pursued across the border from Afghanistan.

Relations are even more tense now following the Navy Seal raid on May 2 that killed Bin Laden in Abbottabad, an army town only about 35 miles (55 kilometres) outside the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

The Pakistani government is outraged that the U.S. carried out the operation without telling them first, and many U.S. officials have expressed disbelief that Bin Laden could have lived in Abbottabad for at least five years without Pakistan knowing. However, the U.S. has also said it has not found any evidence yet that Pakistani leaders knew of Bin Laden's whereabouts.

The helicopter attack comes a day after U.S. Senator John Kerry wrapped up a 24-hour visit to Islamabad in which he worked to salvage the relationship with Pakistan, but also warned the government that ‘actions not words’ were needed to get ties back on track. Kerry was the most high-profile American to visit Pakistan since the raid that killed Bin Laden.

Kerry said Pakistan had agreed to immediately take several ‘specific steps’ to improve ties, but did not say what they were.

The only tangible signs of progress were a remark by Kerry that Pakistan had agreed to give America the tail of a classified stealth helicopter destroyed by U.S. commandos when it malfunctioned during the raid and an announcement that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would soon announce a trip to the country.

But there have also been signs of Pakistan's anger.

The Pakistani government sent the U.S. a written request following the Bin Laden raid asking Washington to reduce the number of American military personnel in the country, said a U.S. military official.

There are currently more than 200 U.S. military personnel in Pakistan, some of whom are tasked with training Pakistani troops, said the official. Pakistan has asked the U.S. to reduce the number of trainers in the country, but the official would not specify the numbers involved.

Diplomatic mission: U.S Senator John Kerry (left) shakes hands with Pakisan's Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani

Nato helicopters attacked from Pakistan, returned fire

Two Nato helicopters supporting a coalition base in eastern Afghanistan came under fire twice from across the Pakistan border, and returned fire the second time, a western military official told Reuters today.

The official declined to comment on whether the helicopters had crossed the border or fired into Pakistan from Afghan airspace.

Local intelligence officials from northwest Pakistan said today that two Pakistani troops were wounded by Nato helicopters that crossed the border.

Libyan TV carries audio of Gaddafi taunting Nato

Libya's leader Muammar Gaddafi gestures to his supporters before making a speech in Tripoli March 2, 2011.

Libyan state television carried brief audio remarks it said were by leader Muammar Gaddafi yesterday in which he taunted Nato as a cowardly crusader and said he was in a place they could not reach.

The comments came after Italy’s foreign minister said Gaddafi had very likely left the Libyan capital and probably been wounded by Nato air strikes, an account Tripoli dismissed.

“I tell the cowardly crusader (Nato) that I live in a place they cannot reach and where you cannot kill me,” said the voice, which sounded like Gaddafi’s.

“Even if you kill the body you will not be able to kill the soul that lives in the hearts of millions,” Gaddafi said, adding he received a “massive” number of calls following a NATO air strike on his Bab al-Aziziyah compound in Tripoli on Thursday.



There was no accompanying video. But Libyan government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim said Gaddafi was unharmed and in Tripoli, leading the country and in good spirits.

Nato allies including the United States, Britain and France are bombing Libya as part of a U.N. mandate to protect civilians. They say they will not stop until the downfall of the Libyan leader, who took power in a coup 41 years ago.

Gaddafi faces a three-month-old uprising by rebels who control Benghazi and the oil-producing east of the North African country. Tripoli says the rebels are criminals and supporters of al Qaeda and calls Nato strikes acts of colonial aggression.

The conflict has caused a diplomatic rupture between Tripoli and Western powers and their allies.

As a result of the attacks, Libya is considering withdrawing from a global campaign against Islamic militants, the state news agency JANA said on Friday.

The International Criminal Court prosecutor will request arrest warrants for Gaddafi and two others on Monday, Spanish radio station Cadena Ser reported, citing ICC sources.

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said he heard the report on Gaddafi from the bishop of Tripoli, Giovanni Innocenzo Martinelli.

“I tend to give credence to the comment of the bishop of Tripoli, Monsignor Martinelli, who has been in close contact over recent weeks, when he told us that Gaddafi is very probably outside Tripoli and is probably also wounded. We don’t know where or how,” Frattini told reporters in Italy.

Ibrahim said Italy’s remarks were cover for a “horrendous” Nato strike that hit a guesthouse in the eastern city of Brega yesterday that killed 11 people and wounded 45, five of whom were in critical condition.

State television showed footage of at least nine bodies with multiple wounds, wrapped in blankets. A Nato official in Naples said they did not have any information on the report.

“Once again Nato proves to the world that it has lost all human values and it is an alliance of barbarians,” said Ibrahim.

WHITE HOUSE MEETING

The rebels were to meet senior White House officials in Washington yesterday to seek cash and diplomatic legitimacy. Rebels have been pleading for funds they say will help them hold besieged positions on the ground.

They want Washington to help free up to US$180 million (RM540 million) in frozen Gaddafi assets to bankroll their campaign.

“To those who stand behind Gaddafi they must know his regime is ending. There is no place for Muammar Gaddafi in Libya’s future,” rebel council chairman Mustafa Abdel Jalil told Al Arabiya yesterday. He pledged amnesty to any Gaddafi defectors.

The Libyan conflict is deadlocked and recent fighting has focused on the city of Misrata, where rebels are clinging on in the face of a government siege and fierce battles.

Rebels took Misrata airport this week and a doctor in Misrata, who gave his name as Khalid, said yesterday missile strikes by Gaddafi’s forces stationed in positions around the city killed 10 people and injured 20.

There was no independent confirmation. Ibrahim said the city was in Tripoli’s hands and rebels were fleeing.

APPALLING CONDITIONS

State television also said Nato warships hit a Red Crescent Society building when they shelled Misrata on Friday. It showed footage of medics and nurses wearing uniforms and Red Crescent insignia attending to wounded people with blood stains on their legs at a building it said was that of a Red Crescent Society.

A Nato official said the only incident he was aware of involving Nato warships in the area involved Nato ships exchanging fire with government forces ashore on Thursday after moving to intercept an attack on Misrata by small boats.

The war has taken a tough toll on civilians. Food, fuel and medical equipment are in short supply in the rebel-controlled Western Mountains region, where the main delivery route is under threat from Gaddafi forces.

Doctors have been forced to open makeshift medical theatres and say they are struggling to treat the wounded

It has also forced thousands to flee. Migrants trying to escape by sea have a one in 10 chance of dying in a Mediterranean crossing in appalling conditions on overcrowded, unseaworthy boats, the UN refugee agency said yesterday.

Around 12,000 migrants have arrived at reception centres in Malta and Italy, while an estimated 1,200 are missing, presumed dead.

Libya’s Gaddafi survives air strikes, son killed

Spokesman Mussa Ibrahim, who took foreign journalists on a guided tour: “This is not permitted by international law. It is not permitted by any moral code or principle.Libyans in Benghazi celebrate May 1, 2011, following news that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s son was killed.

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 today.

Libyan officials took journalists to the house, which had been hit by at least three missiles. The roof had completely caved in in some areas, leaving mangled rods of reinforcing steel hanging down among 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.”

Gaddafi, who seized power in a 1969 coup, is fighting an uprising by rebels who have seized much of the eastern part of the country. British and French-led Nato forces are permitted under a United Nations resolution to mount air attacks on Gaddafi forces to protect civilians.

Inside one part of the villa hit late on yesterday, a beige corner sofa was virtually untouched, but debris had caved in on other striped upholstered chairs. The blasts had been heard across the city late yesterday.

A table football machine stood outside in the garden in a wealthy residential area of Tripoli. Glass and debris covered the lawns, and what appeared to be an unexploded missile lay in one corner.







There was no immediate Nato reaction, nor was any independent confirmation of the deaths possible. The appearance of an assassination attempt against Gaddafi could draw criticism.

It appeared to be the second Nato strike near to Gaddafi in 24 hours. A missile struck near the television station early yesterday when the Libyan leader was making an address in which he said he would never step down and offered talks to rebels.

Benghazi rebels, who control a vast swathe of the east of the country, insist they cannot trust Gaddafi.

‘Fight and fight’

Rifle fire and car horns rang out in the rebels’ eastern capital of Benghazi as news of the attack spread.

“The leader himself is in good health. He wasn’t harmed,” Ibrahim 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.”

The announcement of the attack was made live on Libyan state television, and Tripoli residents began to fire small arms into the air.

US White House press secretary Jay Carney said the White House was aware of Libyan media reports that Gaddafi’s son had been killed and was monitoring the situation.

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.

Gaddafi’s daughter was killed in a US air strike in 1986, ordered after a bomb attack on a West Berlin discotheque killed two US servicemen. Washington linked Tripoli to the attack.

“We will fight and fight if we have to,” Ibrahim said. “The leader offered peace to Nato yesterday and Nato rejected it.”

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.

Libyan forces had reached the gates of Benghazi last month when Gaddafi appeared on television declaring he would crush the rebellion, showing “no pity, no mercy”. Days later the United Nations passed its resolution allowing the air strikes and saving the rebels from defeat.

Driver killed and two dozen Nato fuel tankers are torched as gunmen launch sixth attack on stranded Afghan convoy

Gunmen killed a driver today and torched more than two dozen stranded tankers carrying fuel from Pakistan to Nato troops in Afghanistan.

It was the sixth attack on convoys since Pakistan closed a key border route almost a week ago after a Nato helicopter attack left three of its troops dead.

Last week's closure of the Torkham crossing along the fabled Khyber Pass has left hundreds of trucks stuck on the country's highways, causing a bottleneck heading to the one route into Afghanistan from the south that has remained open.

Fiery hell: Helpless Pakistani firemen can do nothing to stop the blazing tankers in the latest strike against convoys heading for Afghanistan to supply Nato troops.

Inferno: A Pakistani firefighter gestures to his colleagues to stay back after militants burned a convoy of oil tankers carrying fuel to Nato troops in Afghanistan and killed a driver

Gunmen in Pakistan attacked and set fire to 20 trucks transporting supplies to Nato troops

An unidentified number of gunmen in two vehicles attacked the trucks as they sat in the parking lot of a roadside hotel on the outskirts of Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province. The tankers were on their way to the Chaman crossing.

At least 25 were destroyed by fire that spread quickly from vehicle to vehicle.

Of the six attacks on convoys bringing supplies in from the port city of Karachi since the Torkham closure, four were on trucks heading to that crossing and two were travelling to Chaman.

The convoys bring fuel, military vehicles, spare parts, clothing and other non-lethal supplies for foreign troops in Afghanistan.

It was unclear who was behind the latest attack, but the Pakistani Taliban have claimed responsibility for similar assaults on Nato supplies, including one before dawn on Monday that killed four people.

In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said an investigation into the helicopter attack was expected to be concluded later today and that he believed the row between the allies could be sorted out soon.

Morrell emphasized that the Torkham closing had not caused fuel problems for NATO troops.

He said:'We don't suspect it will, even if this were to last into the future. But we really do have a sense we're making progress and this can be resolved soon.'

Hundreds of supply trucks still cross into landlocked Afghanistan each day through the Chaman crossing in southwestern Pakistan and via Central Asian states.

Pakistan is still the fastest and cheapest way to get goods to Afghanistan, and trouble with other routes in the past makes it even more vital.

Uzbekistan evicted U.S. troops from a base that was used to ferry supplies into Afghanistan, and last year Kyrgyzstan threatened to do the same, though it has since backed down.

The events have exposed the frequent strains in the alliance between Pakistan and the U.S. but Morrell downplayed the possibility of any lasting effects.

He said:'There are incidents which create misunderstandings, there are setbacks, but that does not mean the relationship - this crucial relationship to us - is in any way derailed.'

In addition to ensuring safe passage for NATO supplies, the U.S. needs Pakistan to help target Taliban and al Qaeda militants who stage cross-border attacks against foreign troops in Afghanistan.

In return, Pakistan receives billions of dollars in military and civilian assistance that help keep its economy afloat.

Even if the border is reopened, underlying tensions will remain in the U.S.-Pakistan relationship, especially over Pakistan's unwillingness to go after Afghan Taliban militants on its territory with whom it has strong historical ties and who generally focus their attacks on Western troops, not Pakistani targets.

The Pakistani military says it is too busy fighting militants at war with the state to expand its list of targets.

Meanwhile, a bomb exploded inside a home in the northwestern town of Bannu on Wednesday, killing one person and wounding two others. Bannu is near the North Waziristan tribal region, home to a range of Taliban and al Qaeda militants.

Destroyed: A Pakistani driver surveys his burned out truck carrying oil for Nato forces in Afghanistan, after they were attacked near Quetta

Fiery hell: Helpless Pakistani firemen can do nothing to stop the blazing tankers in the latest strike against convoys heading for Afghanistan to supply Nato troops

Aflame: A Pakistani firefighter vainly tries to hose down the convoy of tankers set ablaze by militants