Missile destroys building in Gaddafi compound

China.org.cn, March 21, 2011

One administrative building of the residence compound of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was destroyed by a missile on Sunday, Libyan state TV reported.

It is not not known whether Gaddafi was inside the compound  when the bomb exploded, Xinhua reported.

State TV footage showed that the building, which is quite near to the tent where the Libyan leader usually receive guests, had been severely damaged, according to Xinhua reports.

"We are not going after Gadhafi," U.S. Vice Adm. Bill Gortney said at a Pentagon press briefing. "Regime forces are more pressed and less free to maneuver." "We are not targeting his residence," Gortney added.

At least 64 Libyans were reported to have been killed and another 150 wounded in the Western-led military strikes on Libya, said the Libyan authorities.

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi Sunday called the Western attacks as "a crusader war" against the Libyan people, saying that the air strikes were designed to "terrify the Libyan people" and were "terrorist means," Xinhua reported.

Gaddafi vowed to snatch a victory over Western forces, which began on Saturday to launch air strikes against his troops, saying the western forces would be defeated, according to Xinhua reports

All the Libyan people were united and have been given weapons, "ready for a long war" in the country, he said in a brief audio message carried out by Libya's state television.

The world's major powers, Britain, the United States and France, Saturday started to launch strikes from the air and sea against Gaddafi's forces after the UN Security Council had passed a resolution to impose a no-fly zone over Libya and protect civilians in Libya.