Missile Destroys Qaddafi Compound

The Washington Post reports:

TRIPOLI, Libya — A missile struck a building on Sunday night in the compound where Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi lives, fueling the rage that has erupted among his supporters since U.N.-mandated airstrikes began Saturday.

Government officials took reporters to see the collapsed building here, littered with concrete and missile parts, shortly after a loud explosion was heard from the area. A plume of smoke was seen rising from the Bab al-Aziziya compound, a walled, fortified enclave on the southwestern edge of Tripoli where the Libyan leader lives.

The building was an administrative one located near the tent where Gaddafi receives visitors, and at the time about 200 of his supporters were in the compound nearby, acting as human shields.

“This is the very famous home of our leader,” government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said. “This place is protected by a voluntary human shield. The danger of harming people was real.”

The attack occurred as Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters in Washington that “we’re not targeting [Gaddafi’s] residence.”

But the compound may have been struck by missiles fired by British or French forces, which have taken the lead in the effort to halt attacks by Libyan forces against rebels seeking to topple Gaddafi. CNN quoted “coalition sources” in Washington as saying that the building was hit because it contained “command and control” capabilities.

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