Vandals attack embassies in Libya after airstrike

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TRIPOLI, Libya – Vandals attacked the Italian and British embassies in the Libyan capital Sunday, hours after Moammar Gadhafi escaped a NATO missile strike that officials said killed one of his sons and three young grandchildren. The unrest prompted the United Nations to pull its international staff out of Tripoli.

Britain responded to the attack on its embassy complex, which left the buildings badly burned, by announcing that it was expelling the Libyan ambassador to London.

NATO's attack on a blast wall-ringed Gadhafi family compound in a residential area of Tripoli late Saturday signaled escalating pressure on the Libyan leader who has tried to crush an armed rebellion that erupted in mid-February. Libyan officials denounced the strike as an assassination attempt and a violation of international law.

The bombing also drew criticism from Russia, which cast doubt on NATO's assertion that the alliance is not targeting Gadhafi or members of his family.

"Statements by participants in the coalition that the strikes on Libya are not aimed at the physical destruction of ... Gadhafi and members of his family raise serious doubts," a Foreign Ministry statement said.

It also said the "disproportionate use of force ... is leading to detrimental consequences and the death of innocent civilians." The ministry called for "an immediate cease-fire and the beginning of a political settlement process without preconditions."

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a Gadhafi ally, also condemned the strike.

NATO acknowledged that it had struck a "command and control building," but insisted all its targets are military in nature and linked to Gadhafi's systematic attacks on the population.

"It was not targeted against any individual," NATO spokeswoman Carmen Romero said Sunday, adding the report of the deaths remained unconfirmed.

British Prime Minister David Cameron, without confirming fatalities, also told the British Broadcasting Corp. that the strike was in line with the U.N. mandate to prevent "a loss of civilian life by targeting Gadhafi's war-making machine."
 
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