Harriet Sherwood in Djerba
guardian.co.uk,
Four members of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's family were reportedly killed in a Nato air strike in Tripoli on Saturday. Photograph: Reuters Tv/Reuters
Nato has denied deliberately targeting the family of Muammar Gaddafi following the strikes on a Tripoli residential compound that reportedly killed the Libyan leader's son and three of his grandchildren.
"All Nato's targets are military in nature and have been clearly linked to the Gaddafi regime's systematic attacks on the Libyan population and populated areas. We do not target individuals," said Lieutenant General Charles Bouchard, the Canadian officer commanding the military operations in Libya from Naples.
But the deaths of Gaddafi's three grandchildren, if confirmed, will reinforce the doubts of alliance members uncomfortable with Nato's six-week bombing campaign and generate ferocious criticism from countries such as Russia that Nato is pushing well beyond its UN security council mandate.
Konstantin Kosachev, head of the Russian parliament's foreign affairs committee, called the incident "a clear confirmation of the indiscriminate use of force by the anti-Libyan coalition," and said that "more and more facts indicate that the purpose of the anti-Libyan coalition is to physically destroy Gaddafi".
The Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez went further in his criticism: "There is no doubt the order was given to kill Gaddafi. It doesn't matter who else is killed… this is a murder," he said in Caracas.
Shortly before the strike on Saturday evening, a British officer closely involved in the target selection insisted that all attacks were decided on purely military grounds. "There is no intent by Nato to target or kill individuals," said Brigadier Rob Weighill, who is directing the air operations from Nato's Naples command centre.
In a statement on Saturday evening after the Tripoli bombing, but probably before its impact was clear, the Nato chief, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, stressed there would be no let-up. "We will continue our operation until the threat to the civilian population of Libya is removed," he said, rejecting Gaddafi's proposal of negotiations.
Bouchard acknowledged that the air strike had probably killed children and voiced regret. "I am aware of unconfirmed media reports that some of Gaddafi's family members may have been killed," he said. "We regret all loss of life, especially the innocent civilians being harmed as a result of the ongoing conflict. Nato is fulfilling its UN mandate to stop and prevent attacks against civilians with precision and care — unlike Gaddafi's forces, which are causing so much suffering."
Nato maintained that the villa complex where Gaddafi and his wife were said to be present and unhurt by the attack was "a known command and control building" from where the regime has been coordinating its military onslaught on the rebels.
"The strike was part of Nato's coherent strategy to disrupt and destroy the command and control of those forces which have been attacking civilians," the alliance said.
There is ample dissent among Nato governments over the nature of the campaign against Gaddafi, with only around a quarter of the alliance's 28 states taking part directly in the air strikes, although others are engaged in policing an arms embargo and enforcing a no-fly zone.
For the first month the attacks on ground targets were dominated by the US, France, and Britain, with Norway, Denmark, Canada, and Belgium taking part as the Americans withdrew and the operations came under Nato command.
Last week the Pentagon re-entered the campaign and Italy also agreed to take part in operations that so far have carried out 1,700 sorties, destroying or damaging 600 targets, according to Nato officials. These are said to include 220 tanks or armoured vehicles and around 70 missile systems.
Amid criticism that the campaign may be flagging, with Gaddafi settling in for the long haul in the hope that public opinion in the west will turn against the attacks, Nato officials indirectly conceded there might be no quick breakthrough. "Ours is a deliberate campaign," said Brig Weighill. "Campaigns take time and do require patience."
"All Nato's targets are military in nature and have been clearly linked to the Gaddafi regime's systematic attacks on the Libyan population and populated areas. We do not target individuals," said Lieutenant General Charles Bouchard, the Canadian officer commanding the military operations in Libya from Naples.
But the deaths of Gaddafi's three grandchildren, if confirmed, will reinforce the doubts of alliance members uncomfortable with Nato's six-week bombing campaign and generate ferocious criticism from countries such as Russia that Nato is pushing well beyond its UN security council mandate.
Konstantin Kosachev, head of the Russian parliament's foreign affairs committee, called the incident "a clear confirmation of the indiscriminate use of force by the anti-Libyan coalition," and said that "more and more facts indicate that the purpose of the anti-Libyan coalition is to physically destroy Gaddafi".
The Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez went further in his criticism: "There is no doubt the order was given to kill Gaddafi. It doesn't matter who else is killed… this is a murder," he said in Caracas.
Shortly before the strike on Saturday evening, a British officer closely involved in the target selection insisted that all attacks were decided on purely military grounds. "There is no intent by Nato to target or kill individuals," said Brigadier Rob Weighill, who is directing the air operations from Nato's Naples command centre.
In a statement on Saturday evening after the Tripoli bombing, but probably before its impact was clear, the Nato chief, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, stressed there would be no let-up. "We will continue our operation until the threat to the civilian population of Libya is removed," he said, rejecting Gaddafi's proposal of negotiations.
Bouchard acknowledged that the air strike had probably killed children and voiced regret. "I am aware of unconfirmed media reports that some of Gaddafi's family members may have been killed," he said. "We regret all loss of life, especially the innocent civilians being harmed as a result of the ongoing conflict. Nato is fulfilling its UN mandate to stop and prevent attacks against civilians with precision and care — unlike Gaddafi's forces, which are causing so much suffering."
Nato maintained that the villa complex where Gaddafi and his wife were said to be present and unhurt by the attack was "a known command and control building" from where the regime has been coordinating its military onslaught on the rebels.
"The strike was part of Nato's coherent strategy to disrupt and destroy the command and control of those forces which have been attacking civilians," the alliance said.
There is ample dissent among Nato governments over the nature of the campaign against Gaddafi, with only around a quarter of the alliance's 28 states taking part directly in the air strikes, although others are engaged in policing an arms embargo and enforcing a no-fly zone.
For the first month the attacks on ground targets were dominated by the US, France, and Britain, with Norway, Denmark, Canada, and Belgium taking part as the Americans withdrew and the operations came under Nato command.
Last week the Pentagon re-entered the campaign and Italy also agreed to take part in operations that so far have carried out 1,700 sorties, destroying or damaging 600 targets, according to Nato officials. These are said to include 220 tanks or armoured vehicles and around 70 missile systems.
Amid criticism that the campaign may be flagging, with Gaddafi settling in for the long haul in the hope that public opinion in the west will turn against the attacks, Nato officials indirectly conceded there might be no quick breakthrough. "Ours is a deliberate campaign," said Brig Weighill. "Campaigns take time and do require patience."
