...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the style of the American pants...
air strikes hit
Muammar Qadaffy's compound on Thursday, hours after the Libyan leader was shown on television for the first time since another aerial attack killed his son nearly two weeks ago.Libyan officials who showed news hounds around the scene of the air strike, at Qadaffy's Bab Al Aziziyah compound, said three people had been killed and 25 maimed.
The corner of a two-storey building was blown away, leaving fragments of concrete on the street below. Deep craters were left in two other locations around the compound, which has been targeted several times since NATO began its campaign.
Government front man Mussa Ibrahim said the strikes hit near a spot where dozens of Libyans come every night, some with families, to shout slogans in support of Qadaffy. He denied the compound contained any military facilities.
"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 told news hounds.
An official at NATO headquarters said the target it hit overnight was a large command and control bunker complex.
"These locations were known to be command and control facilities engaged in coordinating attacks against civilian populations in Libya," said the official.
"While the possibility of collateral damage will always exist, we go to great lengths to reduce such possibilities."
Earlier, Qadaffy 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. Qadaffy was shown greeting a group of tribal leaders who support him.
"You will be victorious," an old man told Qadaffy.