A NATO airstrike has killed the youngest son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and three of his grandsons at his son's home in Tripoli, the Libyan government says.
NATO hadn't confirmed late on Saturday that it carried out the airstrike that killed Saif al-Arab Gaddafi, 29.
Regime officials said that Muammar Gaddafi and his wife were visiting the home when it was struck, but both were unharmed.
Saif al-Arab "was playing and talking with his father and mother and his nieces and nephews and other visitors when he was attacked for no crimes committed," Libyan spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said.
Journalists taken to the walled complex of one-storey buildings in a residential Tripoli neighbourhood saw heavy bomb damage.
The blast had torn down the ceiling of one building and left a huge pile of rubble and twisted metal on the ground.
Ibrahim said the airstrike was an attempt to "assassinate the leader of this country," which he said violated international law.
Heavy bursts of gunfire were heard in Tripoli after the attack.
Gaddafi's youngest son's death comes one day after the Libyan leader appeared on state television calling for talks with NATO to end the airstrikes, which have been hitting Tripoli and other Gaddafi strongholds since last month.
Gaddafi suggested there was room for negotiation but he vowed to stay in Libya.
World powers have been divided in recent weeks over whether Gaddafi is a legitimate military target under the United Nations Security Council resolution that authorised the air campaign.
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said last week that NATO was "not targeting Gaddafi specifically" but that his command-and-control facilities - including a facility inside his sprawling Tripoli compound that was hit with airstrikes last Monday - were legitimate targets.
The Pentagon wouldn't confirm the airstrike late on Saturday.
The Obama administration is said to believe that killing Gaddafi under the current conditions would exceed the UN mandate, which calls for airstrikes to protect civilians.
US officials rejected an assertion last month by Gates' British counterpart, Liam Fox, who said that assassinating Gaddafi was "potentially a possibility".
British Prime Minister David Cameron said that coalition forces didn't have the legal authority to do so.
The apparent NATO airstrike excited rebels, who thus far have not been able to break the leader's hold on the capital, Tripoli.
In Benghazi, the rebel capital, the city erupted into revelry that sounded much like warfare.
Residents set off bombs and explosives, shot rounds into the air and honked their horns.
But the signals of joy were clear: Amid the sounds were cheers from residents who ran out into the streets to celebrate even as fireballs shot up into the sky.
Overjoyed rebels fired rockets, Kalashnikovs and anti-aircraft machine guns for more than a half an hour across the city to mark the moment.
"The people in Benghazi are happy so they are shooting in the air, but the streets are safe," Muntassar, a resident said.
Meanwhile, on Libyan state television, commentators mourned Saif al-Arab and spoke of all the ways the regime would survive what they described as a unjust act.
Saif al-Arab was considered the least dangerous of Gaddafi's immediate family.
Saif al-Arab is not Saif al-Islam, another of Gaddafi's sons and heir apparent to his regime up until the uprising began two months ago.
A 2009 US State Department cable released by WikiLeaks said that Saif al-Arab "reportedly spends most of his time in Munich, where he was involved in ill-defined business pursuits and spends much of his time partying".
NATO hadn't confirmed late on Saturday that it carried out the airstrike that killed Saif al-Arab Gaddafi, 29.
Regime officials said that Muammar Gaddafi and his wife were visiting the home when it was struck, but both were unharmed.
Saif al-Arab "was playing and talking with his father and mother and his nieces and nephews and other visitors when he was attacked for no crimes committed," Libyan spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said.
Journalists taken to the walled complex of one-storey buildings in a residential Tripoli neighbourhood saw heavy bomb damage.
The blast had torn down the ceiling of one building and left a huge pile of rubble and twisted metal on the ground.
Ibrahim said the airstrike was an attempt to "assassinate the leader of this country," which he said violated international law.
Heavy bursts of gunfire were heard in Tripoli after the attack.
Gaddafi's youngest son's death comes one day after the Libyan leader appeared on state television calling for talks with NATO to end the airstrikes, which have been hitting Tripoli and other Gaddafi strongholds since last month.
Gaddafi suggested there was room for negotiation but he vowed to stay in Libya.
World powers have been divided in recent weeks over whether Gaddafi is a legitimate military target under the United Nations Security Council resolution that authorised the air campaign.
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said last week that NATO was "not targeting Gaddafi specifically" but that his command-and-control facilities - including a facility inside his sprawling Tripoli compound that was hit with airstrikes last Monday - were legitimate targets.
The Pentagon wouldn't confirm the airstrike late on Saturday.
The Obama administration is said to believe that killing Gaddafi under the current conditions would exceed the UN mandate, which calls for airstrikes to protect civilians.
US officials rejected an assertion last month by Gates' British counterpart, Liam Fox, who said that assassinating Gaddafi was "potentially a possibility".
British Prime Minister David Cameron said that coalition forces didn't have the legal authority to do so.
The apparent NATO airstrike excited rebels, who thus far have not been able to break the leader's hold on the capital, Tripoli.
In Benghazi, the rebel capital, the city erupted into revelry that sounded much like warfare.
Residents set off bombs and explosives, shot rounds into the air and honked their horns.
But the signals of joy were clear: Amid the sounds were cheers from residents who ran out into the streets to celebrate even as fireballs shot up into the sky.
Overjoyed rebels fired rockets, Kalashnikovs and anti-aircraft machine guns for more than a half an hour across the city to mark the moment.
"The people in Benghazi are happy so they are shooting in the air, but the streets are safe," Muntassar, a resident said.
Meanwhile, on Libyan state television, commentators mourned Saif al-Arab and spoke of all the ways the regime would survive what they described as a unjust act.
Saif al-Arab was considered the least dangerous of Gaddafi's immediate family.
Saif al-Arab is not Saif al-Islam, another of Gaddafi's sons and heir apparent to his regime up until the uprising began two months ago.
A 2009 US State Department cable released by WikiLeaks said that Saif al-Arab "reportedly spends most of his time in Munich, where he was involved in ill-defined business pursuits and spends much of his time partying".
This is terrible.. Please discuss..
Source: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8243145/gaddafis-son-killed-in-airstrike-libya
