LIBYA: Muammar Gaddafi's youngest son and three grandchildren killed in NATO airstrike

Record ID: 764268

  • Title: LIBYA: Muammar Gaddafi's youngest son and three grandchildren killed in NATO airstrike
  • Date: 2nd May 2011
  • Summary: TRIPOLI, LIBYA (APRIL 30, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS DAMAGED SAIF AL-ARAB COMPOUND NEWS CONFERENCE WITH GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN, MUSSA IBRAHIM SOUNDBITE (English) GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN, MUSSA IBRAHIM, SAYING: "Tonight, and only a short time ago, the western NATO crusader aggression agains the Libyan nation continued and proved again that it has no moral foundation, no legal foundation and no political foundation. The house of Saif al-Arab Muammar Gaddafi, known as Rubar to most Libyan, who is the youngest of the leader's children was attacked tonight with full power. The leader with his wife was there in the house with other friends and relatives. The attack resulted in the matrydom of Saif al-Arab Muammar Gaddafi, 29 year old, and three of the leader's grandchildren. The leader himself is in good health. He wasn't harmed. His wife is also in good health. She wasn't harmed." BENGHAZI, LIBYA (APRIL 30, 2011) (REUTERS) FIREWORKS CAR DECORATED WITH LIBYAN OPPOSITION FLAG DOING DONUTS IN CELEBRATION OF THE NEWS OF THE DEATH OF GADDAFI'S SON FIREWORKS EXPLODING DRIVING SHOT - MAN WITH LIBYAN REBEL OPPOSITION FLAG LIBYAN OPPOSITION REBEL FLAG BEING HELD BY BENGHAZI RESIDENTS CELEBRATING MAN FIRING THEIR WEAPON IN THE AIR (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) UNIDENTIFIED MAN IN BENGHZI SAYING: "It's a great joy but the bigger joy will be Muaammar Gaddafi." MAN SCREAMING IN CELEBRATION MAN FIRRING WEAPON - AUDIO OF GUNFIRE (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNIDENTIFIED MAN SAYING: "Gadaffi killed my brother, we want Gadaffi killed now, we need Gadaffi to be killed now. His son has been died right now inshallah, we hope from our God, to finish Gaddafi family." ANTI-GADAFFI REBELS GATHERED AT HEADQUARTERS IN BENGHAZI
  • Embargoed: 17th May 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Libya
  • Country: Libya
  • Topics: War / Fighting
  • Reuters ID: LVAE54GU0L66HNXSP7XJ0Z6FB6SL
  • Story Text: Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi survived a NATO air strike on a Tripoli house that killed his youngest son and three grandchildren, a government spokesman said on Sunday.
    Libyan officials took journalists to the house, which had been hit by at least three missiles. The roof had completely caved in in some areas, leaving mangled rods of reinforcing steel hanging down among chunks of concrete.
    Gaddafi, who seized power in a 1969 coup, is fighting an uprising by rebels who have seized much of the eastern part of the country. British and French-led NATO forces are permitted under a United Nations resolution to mount air attacks on Gaddafi forces to protect civilians.
    Inside one part of the villa hit late on Saturday, a beige corner sofa was virtually untouched, but debris had caved in on other striped upholstered chairs. The blasts had been heard across the city late on Saturday.
    A table football machine stood outside in the garden in a wealthy residential area of Tripoli. Glass and debris covered the lawns and what appeared to be an unexploded missile lay in one corner.
    There was no immediate NATO reaction, nor was any independent confirmation of the deaths possible. The appearance of an assassination attempt against Gaddafi could draw criticism.
    It appeared to be the second NATO strike near to Gaddafi in 24 hours. A missile struck near the television station early on Saturday when the Libyan leader was making an address in which he said he would never step down and offered talks to rebels.
    "The leader himself is in good health. He wasn't harmed," government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim told a news conference. "His wife is also in good health."
    U.S. White House press secretary Jay Carney said the White House was aware of Libyan media reports Gaddafi's son had been killed and was monitoring the situation.
    Ibrahim said Gaddafi's youngest son, Saif Al-Arab, had been killed in the attack. Saif al-Arab, 29, is one of Gaddafi's less prominent sons, with a limited role in the power structure.
    Ibrahim described him as a student who had studied in Germany.
    Gaddafi's daughter was killed in a U.S. airstrike in 1986, ordered after a bomb attack on a West Berlin discotheque killed two U.S. servicemen. Washington linked Tripoli to the attack.
    Fighting in Libya's civil war, which grew from protests for greater political freedom that have spread across the Arab world, has reached stalemate in recent weeks with neither side capable of achieving a decisive blow.
    Libyan forces had reached the gates of Benghazi last month when Gaddafi appeared on television declaring he would crush the rebellion, showing "no pity, no mercy". Days later the United Nations passed its resolution allowing the air strikes and saving.
    The announcement of the attack was made live on Libyan state television and Tripoli residents began to fire small arms into the air.
    Residents of Benghazi celebrated when they heard the news of the death just before midnight on Saturday.
    The headquarters of the rebels and opposition, got very noisy in celebrations with gunfire, antiaircraft fire and fireworks, late on Saturday night and into the first hours of Sunday.
    Some drove their cars making screeching noises while speeding up and down some main roads in Benghazi going in circles and smearing the asphalt with the tyres.
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