Gaddafi compound hit,US denies bid to kill him

Key Arab leader questions tactics,Putin slams allied bombing campaign as medieval crusade.

After a second night of US and European strikes by air and sea against Muammar Gaddafis forces,European nations Monday rejected Libyan claims that civilians had been killed. Pro-Gaddafi forces were reported to be holding out against the allied campaign to break their grip on the ground while enforcing a no-fly zone.

Rebel fighters trying to re-take the eastern town of Ajdabiya said they were driven back on Monday by rocket and tank fire from government loyalists still controlling entrances to the city. In the western city of Misrata,forces loyal to Gaddafi were still at large and were using civilians from nearby towns as human shields,Reuters reported,but that could not be immediately confirmed.

As it gained force,the allied air campaign met a rising tide of criticism from around the world,notably from Russia and China. In general,it reminds me of a medieval call for a crusade, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin of Russia said Monday,after criticizing the allies Sunday for indiscriminate use of force.

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On Sunday,a vital Arab participant in the agreement,secretary general of the Arab League,Amr Moussa,said he was calling for an emergency league meeting to discuss the killing of civilians in allied attacks in Libya.

But on Monday,he said,We have no conflict with the (UN) resolution,especially as it confirms that there is no invasion or occupation of Libyan territory.

Late Sunday,an explosion thundered from Gaddafis personal compound in Tripoli,and smoke rose above it,suggesting that either his residence or the nearby barracks of his personal guards had been struck. Unnamed Western officials were quoted in news reports as saying that the building was a military command and control centre.

Vice Adm. William E. Gortney said in a Washington news conference that the US was not trying to kill the Libyan leader. At this particular point I can guarantee that hes not on a targeting list, he said,saying that the US military was working to weaken his military capacity rather than remove him. DAVID D KIRKPATRICK,ELISABETH BUMILLER & KAREEM FAHIM

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics to John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret and John M. Martinis. (Image: @NobelPrize/X)

American scientists John Clarke, Michel Devoret and John Martinis win Physics Nobel Prize

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