‘DOWN, DOWN Cameron, Down, Down Sarkozy, Down Down Obama,’ chanted hundreds of angry Libyan students outside 10 Downing Street yesterday afternoon, holding up pictures of men, women and children slaughtered by the imperialist bombardment of their country which began on Saturday.
TV crews were taken into Colonel Gadaffi’s compound in Tripoli yesterday and shown the remains of the building destroyed in Sunday night’s missile attack.
A missile intended to kill Muammar Gadaffi had destroyed the building in his fortified compound.
It was the same building from where Colonel Gadaffi delivered defiant televised speeches earlier this month, and the building which was heavily bombed in 1986 by the Reagan administration, killing the Libyan leader’s young daughter.
‘It was a barbaric bombing,’ said government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim yesterday, showing pieces of shrapnel that came from the missile.
‘This contradicts American and Western (statements) . . . that it is not their target to attack this place.’
On Sunday when Defence Secretary Liam Fox was asked whether Colonel Gadaffi was a legitimate target, he replied: ‘Well, that would potentially be a possibility’.
But the head of UK armed forces, General Sir David Richards claimed yesterday that Colonel Gadaffi is ‘absolutely not’ a target for military action.
Richards said: ‘No, absolutely not. It’s not allowed under the UN resolution and it’s not something I want to discuss any further.’
And French foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said targeting Colonel Gadaffi himself was ‘not in the resolution’.
‘Everyone is clear today that Colonel Gadaffi is not a legitimate target himself under that resolution.’
US Defence Secretary Gates said ‘If we start adding additional objectives then I think we create a problem in that respect. I also think it is unwise to set as specific goals things that you may or may not be able to achieve.’
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said yesterday that the UN resolution authorising military action resembled ‘mediaeval calls for crusades’.
Ibrahim Saad, Secretary of the Libyan Students Union, which organised yesterday’s demonstration outside Downing Street, told News Line: ‘We called the demonstration to condemn the UK government’s decision to bomb Libya and to support our leader Muammar Gadaffi, the hero. We all support our Libyan government.’