[Asharq al-Aswat] Western forces launched a second wave of air strikes on Libya overnight and officials in Tripoli said a missile intended to kill Muammar Qadaffy had destroyed a building in his fortified compound."It was a barbaric bombing," said government front man Musa Ibrahim, showing pieces of shrapnel that he said came from the missile. "This contradicts American and Western (statements) ... that it is not their target to attack this place."
There was no comment on the strike from attacking forces.
The first air strikes on Saturday halted the advance of Qadaffy's forces on the rebel-held eastern city of Benghazi and had targeted Libya's air defenses in order to let Western warplanes patrol the skies of this oil-producing north African desert state.
The second wave of Western air strikes also hit Qadaffy's troops around Ajdabiyah, a strategic town in the barren, scrub of east Libya that rebels aim to retake and where their fighters said they need more help to take the fight to the enemy.
"If we don't get more help from the West, Qadaffy's forces will eat us alive," rebel fighter Nouh Musmari told Rooters.
The U.N.-mandated intervention to protect civilians caught up in a one-month-old revolt against Qadaffy drew criticism from Arab League chief Amr Musa, who questioned the need for a heavy bombardment, which he said had killed many civilians.
Musa said on Monday however that the League respected the U.N. resolution while stressing a need to protect civilians.
The United States, carrying out the air strikes in a coalition with Britain, La Belle France, Italy and Canada among others, said the campaign was working and dismissed a ceasefire announcement by the Libyan military on Sunday evening.
STRIKES "FOR A LITTLE WHILE"
Henri Guaino, one of French President Nicolas Sarkozy's
...23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. Sarkozy is known for wanting to revitalize the French economy whether the Frenchies want to or not. In foreign affairs he has promised a strengthening of the entente cordiale with the United Kingdom and closer cooperation with the United States. He married singer-songwriter Carla Bruni, who has a really nice birthday suit, in 2008...
closest aides, said the strikes were not aimed at ousting the autocrat who has ruled Libya for 41 years but told RMC radio that they were likely to last "a little while."
Britain's Defense Ministry said one of its submarines had again fired Tomahawk cruise missiles as part of a second wave of attacks to enforce the U.N. resolution but that one air force mission was called off because of civilians in the target area.
"As the RAF GR4 Tornados approached the target, further information came to light ... As a result the decision was taken not to launch weapons," a ministry front man said, adding this underlined the British commitment to protecting civilians.
The Libyan government urged people in towns, cities and tribes to join a march from Tripoli to Benghazi "so we could exchange condolences, ... announce forgiveness ... and then we could sit down as one family ..."
The intervention in Libya is the biggest against an Arab country since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Withdrawal of Arab support would make it much harder to pursue what some defense analysts say could in any case be a difficult, open-ended campaign with an uncertain outcome.
Asked about Musa's concerns about the conduct of the campaign, Michele Flournoy, Under Secretary at the U.S. Department for Defense, told the BBC:
"I think that may be the case that people don't understand the military dimensions of what was required to establish the no-fly zone but I can tell you that we continue to have ... statements of support from a number of Arab countries."
Italy said it had warplanes in the air, after U.S. and British warships and submarines launched 110 Tomahawk missiles on Saturday night and Sunday morning.
Vice Admiral Bill Gortney, director of the U.S. military's Joint Staff, told news hounds there had been no new Libyan air activity or radar emissions, but a significant decrease in Libyan air surveillance, since strikes began Saturday.