aljazeera, April 30, 2011
Libyan government spokesman says air strike kills Saif al-Arab Gaddafi and three of the Libyan leader's grandsons.
Saif al-Arab Gaddafi, the youngest son of the Libyan leader, and three of his grandchildren have been killed in a NATO air strike, a Libyan government spokesman said.
Gaddafi and his wife were in the Tripoli house of his 29-year-old son, Saif al-Arab Gaddafi, when it was hit by at least one missile fired by a NATO warplane late on Saturday, according to Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim.
"The house of Mr Saif al-Arab Gaddafi was attacked tonight with full power. The leader with his wife was there in the house with other friends and relatives.
"The leader himself is in good health, he wasn't harmed," the spokesman said, adding that Muammar Gaddafi's wife was also unharmed but other people in the house were injured.
"This was a direct attempt to assassinate the leader of the country", Ibrahim said.
The 29-year-old Saif al-Arab Gaddafi is the most unknown of the Libyan leader's children, Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught, reporting from Libya, said.
"He's one of the low-profile of his children and has been largely invisible since the conflict began", she said.
"He hasn't been visible in any significant form. He hasn't appeared on TV or made any speeches, he hasn't been on any crowd-rallying marches."
Ibrahim said Saif al-Arab was a civilian and a student who had studied in Germany.
Ibrahim had earlier taken journalists to the remnants of a house in Tripoli. Given the level of destruction, it is unclear that anyone could have survived.
Three loud explosions were heard in Tripoli on Saturday evening as jets flew overhead. Volleys of anti-aircraft fire rang out following the first two strikes, which were followed by a third.
There was no immediate NATO reaction or independent confirmation of the incident.
Rifle fire and car horns rang out in the rebels' eastern capital of Benghazi as news of the attack spread.
Cars whizzed by the sea front beeping their horns and shouting "God is greatest" as the night sky was lit up by red tracer fire.
Source: Al Jazeera and agencies
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