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- Aug 2, 2010
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...s-human-shields-prevent-military-targets.html
- Claims sixth son Khamis, leader of crack loyalist unit, died of burn wounds
Colonel Gaddafi suffered a massive personal setback today when one of his sons was allegedly killed in a suicide air mission on his barracks.
Khamis, 27, who runs the feared Khamis Brigade that has been prominent in its role of attacking rebel-held areas, is said to have died on Saturday night.
A Libyan air force pilot crashed his jet into the Bab al-Aziziya compound in Tripoli in a kamikaze attack, Algerian TV reported following an unsubstantiated claim by an anti-Gaddafi media organisation.
Khamis is alleged to have died of burns in hospital. The regime denied the reports.
It was claimed he died in the same compound hit by RAF cruise missiles hit by coalition forces last night.
Loyalists have been photographed with shrapnel from the missile that struck the building and throughout the day there has been no information on Gaddafi's whereabouts.
Libyan state TV has claimed that 48 people were killed in the weekend attacks, causing friction between the west and the Arab world but the Ministry of Defence said it wasn't aware of civilian casualties.
But it exposed fractures between the U.S. and British positions, with U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates saying getting rid of Gaddafi would be unwise while the UK refuses to rule out any course of action.
A rebel fighter points his gun at a suspected Gaddafi supporter as other rebels try to protect him
As David Cameron took to the floor of the House of Commons today to justify the actions, Downing Street emphasised its legal position this afternoon saying there was "a clear and unequivocal legal basis for deployment of UK forces and military assets to achieve the resolution's objectives".
The Chief of the Defence Staff's Strategic Communications Officer Major General John Lorimer said: 'We are satisfied that our attacks and those of our partners have been highly effective in degrading the Libyan air defence and command and control capability.'
Meanwhile, Gaddafi has ordered his troops to round up civilians from nearby towns to be used as human shields towns to avoid targets being hit by allied forces, it was claimed today.
A rebel spokesman in Misrata, the only big rebel stronghold in western Libya, said that residents were being bussed there from nearby towns, but those reports could not be independently verified.
ANGER AT UN INTERVENTION
Ban had finished a meeting with the Arab League chief and was leaving the organization's headquarters in Cairo when dozens of protesters converged on him and his security detail.
The protesters, carrying pictures of the Libyan leader and banners critical of the U.S. and UN, blocked his path as he walked away from the building. Ban returned inside and apparently drove out of the league from another exit.
Snipers were posted on rooftops, shooting anyone that came within range while armed pro-Gaddafi forces had entered the city dressed in civilian cloths to try and mix in.
The spokesman known only as Hassan said: 'The Gaddafi forces are forcing people from Zawiyat al Mahjoub and Al Ghiran out of their houses and giving them Gaddafi's pictures and the (official Libyan) green flag to chant for Gaddafi.
'They are bringing them to Misrata so they can enter the city and control it by using the civilians as human shields because they know we are not going to shoot woman and children and old people.'
The accounts show a change in tactics from Gaddafi's forces in a bid to avoid Western airstrikes.
Libyan state TV said that 'supporters' were converging on airports to act as human shields.
Earlier this morning Foreign Secretary William Hague appearing on BBC Radio 4's Today programme refused to say if Gaddafi would or could be assassinated, insisting he would not "get drawn into details about what or whom may be targeted."
'I'm not going to speculate on the targets,' he said. 'That depends on the circumstances at the time.'
Defence Secretary Liam Fox said yesterday he would sanction a bunker buster attack on the Libyan leaders lair as long as casualties could be avoided.
He vowed to destroy the Libyan dictator's entire military infrastructure and senior officials privately admitted they want to engineer regime change.
The chief of defence staff, Sir David Richards, said Gaddafi was "absolutely not" a target. 'It's not allowed under the UN resolution,' he said.
Mr Fox's U.S. counterpart, Robert Gates, said it was "unwise" for foreign forces to try to kill Colonel Gaddafi. He said the allied operation should be carried out based on the norms of the UN Security Council.