UN leaves Tripoli amid mob attacks

DUSHANBE, May 2, 2011, Asia-Plus — The UN has withdrawn all its international staff from the Libyan capital Tripoli following a mob attack on its offices, international media outlets report.

UN buildings and some foreign missions were targeted by angry crowds following a NATO air strike that reportedly killed a son and three grandchildren of Colonel Gaddafi.

The UN says all its international staff have now left for Tunisia and the decision will be reviewed next week.

Al-Jazeera reports the Deputy Foreign Minister of Libya, Khaled Kaim, said on Sunday that the attack was the fourth attempt to assassinate Gaddafi, who was in the building at the time.  Kaim denied the presence of command and control facilities in the Tripoli neighborhood attacked by NATO.  He also denied allegations that his government had fabricated the deaths and said church leaders in Libya had been allowed to see the bodies in the hospital.

The Associated Press reports Russia con­demned the NATO air strike Sat­urday on Tripoli, with the For­eign Min­istry de­scrib­ing it as a disproportion­ate use of force.  Russia questioned NATO’s as­sertion that the alliance was not tar­geting Gaddafi or members of his fam­ily and called for “an im­me­diate cease-fire and po­lit­ical settle­ment,” the As­sociated Press reported.  Venezuelan Pres­ident Hugo Chavez, an ally of Gaddafi’s, also con­demned the strike.

According to the Washington Post, the Libyan govern­ment said Gaddafi’s son Saif al-Arab Gaddafi, 29, was at a gath­ering of rel­atives and friends when three mis­siles struck the fam­ily house just af­ter 8 p.m. Sat­urday, caus­ing huge explo­sions.  The Libyan lead­er and his wife, Safiyah, were at the house but escaped unharmed, govern­ment spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said, call­ing the attack an as­sas­sination at­tempt.  Khaled Kaim said a 6-month-old granddaugh­ter, a 2-year-old grand­son and a 2-year-old granddaugh­ter also died.

Al-Jazeera reports Saif al-Arab Gaddafi was the most unknown of the Libyan leader”s children. 

The BBC reports that after its Tripoli embassy was sacked, the UK expelled the Libyan ambassador.  UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said Libyan ambassador Omar Jelban had been given 24 hours to leave the country.  The British embassy was reportedly completely burnt out with fires.

According to Al-Jazeera, the Libyan deputy foreign minister regretted the attacks on the embassies, saying the police force was overpowered by angry crowds.  Kaim said Libya would survey the damages and repair them.

In other developments, witnesses reported heavy shelling by pro-Gaddafi forces on the port of Misrata on Sunday.  The city has been besieged for two months.  Libyan state TV said the port was shelled to stop NATO delivering weapons to insurgents but rebels said an aid ship had been trying to unload.

A UN official said the Libyan government had apologized for the attack on its offices, blaming an angry mob for the damage.

Most Western governments evacuated staff from Tripoli when an international coalition began air strikes on Libya several weeks ago.