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The British embassy in Tripoli was set alight and other Western buildings targeted by angry mobs following an attack that killed members of the Libyan dictator’s family.
Saif al-Arab Gaddafi, the dictator’s youngest son, was killed by an airstrike on a house in Tripoli on Saturday night. The regime also said that three of Col Gaddafi’s grandchildren died.
Col Gaddafi himself was said to have been in the building at the time but emerged unhurt. His spokesman described the strike as “a direct operation to assassinate the leader of this country.”
Nato denied targeting the Libyan leader personally, but confirmed an attack on a “military target” in a “known command-and-control building” in the capital.
The strike raised international tensions over Libya still higher, but British ministers were unrepentant. David Cameron accused the Libyan leader of “murdering” his own people.
After six weeks of Western military action to support rebels trying to oust him, Col Gaddafi remains in power.
His forces are reported to have launched fresh attacks on Sunday night in the rebel-held port of Misurata, shelling a ship trying to unload humanitarian aid. Loyalist forces also shelled a town in neighbouring Tunisia they accuse of sheltering rebels.
Despite signs of an international backlash from countries including Russia, Mr Cameron defended Nato’s tactics and insisted the allies would go on targeting “Gaddafi’s war machine.”
The airstrike was followed by angry scenes in Tripoli, with mobs attacking Western embassies.
The Foreign Office said that both the British embassy and the ambassador’s residence had suffered “severe” damage from fire. Cars nearby were also burned. The British buildings have been empty since Western strikes on Libya began in March.
British diplomats privately believe the attacks were orchestrated by the Libyan regime and William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, responded by expelling Libya’s ambassador to London.
Omar Jelban was told he had 24 hours to leave the country because Libya had failed to uphold its Vienna Convention obligations to protect diplomatic missions.
“The regime has once again breached its international responsibilities and obligations,” Mr Hague said. “The attacks against diplomatic missions will not weaken our resolve to protect the civilian population in Libya.”
Italy, the former colonial power, also reported that its embassy had been damaged.
The United Nations also said that it was withdrawing a small team of humanitarian staff from the Libyan capital because of fears for their safety.
Britain and France, who have led the campaign against Col Gaddafi, have denied pursuing a policy of regime change.
But critics have accused the allies of overstepping the UN resolution that authorised military action to protect Libyan civilians. Russia yesterday accused the allies of “disproportionate use of force” causing the death of civilians.
Mr Cameron insisted that Western air forces were targeting Col Gaddafi’s “command and control” facilities, to prevent the dictator’s “war machine” killing civilians.
The allies’ actions are consistent with United Nations edicts, the Prime Minister told the BBC.
“The targeting policy of Nato is absolutely clear. It is about preventing the loss of civilian life by targeting Gaddafi's war making machine,” he said. “That is obviously tanks and guns and rocket but also command and control as well”.
He added: “Let's remember: while Gaddafi said he wanted a ceasefire, he was mining the harbour in Misurata in order to blow up vessels that were bringing humanitarian aid to help the people that he is murdering and killing with his snipers, rockets and artillery.”
Alistair Burt, a Foreign Office minister, said that anyone “co-ordinating” attacks on Libyan civilians could be a legitimate military target for Nato.
Targets include “anybody who is involved in the operations directly against civilians, whether they are individual soldiers with heavy weaponry [or] people who are co-ordinating the attacks and in a place which is designated as a military target,” he said.
Some Nato targets were in residential buildings or areas, Mr Burt said.
He told Sky News: “Military targets are the ones which are sought out by the coalition forces but I’m sure it’s naive to imagine that every command and control centre used by the Libyan regime will necessarily be labelled a command and control structure and be located in an army compound.
He added: “We know that command and control centres are often placed in civilian areas.”
Some analysts said that targeting or killing Gaddafi could backfire on the West by alienating Arab states and boosting Libyan support for the Gaddafi family regime.
But John McCain, a senior US senator who recently visited Libya said killing Gaddafi would be acceptable. He said: "We should be taking out his command and control, and if he is killed or injured because of that, that's fine,”
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