TRIPOLI – Crowds chanting support for Muammar Gadafy gathered in Tripoli yesterday for the funeral of his son, killed in a Nato airstrike that has raised questions about the West’s role in the uprising against the Libyan leader.
Col Gadafy’s forces halted their bombardment of the port in the rebel-held city of Misurata after Nato air strikes, but the port remained closed, a rebel spokesman said, thwarting efforts to bring supplies in by sea to the besieged city.
Nato aircraft also struck overnight positions held by Libyan government forces near the rebel-held town of Zintan.
The developments highlighted the reliance of the rebel movement on military backing from the West. But Saturday’s air raid on a Gadafy compound, which the government said killed his 29-year-old son Saif al-Arab and three-young grandchildren, added a new twist.
The announcement of the deaths triggered attacks by angry crowds on the British and French embassies and the US diplomatic mission in Tripoli, and accusations from the Libyan officials that Nato had been trying to assassinate Gadafy.
About 2,000 people carrying flags and pictures of Gadafy turned out for the funeral. They pumped their fists in the air and vowed to avenge the death of Saif al-Arab.
“We are all with Gadafy’s Libya,” read one placard.
Saif al-Arab’s coffin, covered in flowers and wrapped in the green flag that has represented Libya since Gadafy took power in a 1969 coup, was carried through the crowds to the grave at Hani cemetery in the Libyan capital.
Gadafy did not appear to be at the funeral but Saif al-Islam, the most prominent of his seven sons, attended, along with his elder half-brother, Mohammed.
Saif al-Arab had no children but three of his nieces and nephews, all of them under three years old, were killed in Saturday’s blast, the government says. They were the children of Saif al-Arab’s siblings Hannibal, Aisha and Mohammed Gadafy.
Despite denials from western leaders that the air raid was an assassination attempt on Col Gadafy, it has provoked renewed debate on whether the British and French-led strikes are exceeding a United Nations mandate to protect civilians.
South Africa, which has led an African peace plan, condemned the attack and said the UN resolution which authorised air strikes did not cover the assassination of individuals.
Misurata was subjected to renewed bombardments early yesterday, but a rebel spokesman said they ceased after Nato air strikes.
“There were strikes by Nato on the outskirts of the city today at around midday,” a spokesman called Reda, told Reuters. “The port is still closed. Gadafy’s forces bombarded it earlier today. The bombardment has now stopped.”
Rocket barrages hit the port area on Sunday as an aid ship was trying to unload. Libyan state television said it was shelled to stop Nato from delivering weapons to the insurgents.
“Shelling the port is disastrous for us because it will sabotage all the humanitarian aid we are getting,” rebel spokesman Ahmed Hassan said. “God help us if this happens.”
An aid ship was still waiting off the coast of Misrata for bombing to stop and mines to be cleared before it tries to deliver supplies and evacuate some 1,000 foreigners and wounded Libyans, the International Organisation for Migration said.