Nato has admitted that it doesn't know if Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi is dead or alive.
Colonel Muamar Gaddafi Photo: REUTERS
8:00AM BST 11 May 2011
A spokesman for Nato said its air strikes on Tripoli were not aimed at killing him.
"All Nato targets are military targets, which means that the targets we've been hitting are command and control bunkers," Claudio Gabellini said.
"Nato is not targeting individuals."
Asked about the whereabouts of Gaddafi, who has not been seen in public since he reportedly escaped an air strike on April 30 that killed his son, Mr Gabellini said: "We don't have any evidence. We don't know what Gaddafi is doing right now.
"And I tell you the truth we're not really interested in what he is doing,"
While the Libyan government insists that Gaddafi is in mourning for his son and will make an appearance in public soon, his absence has led to rumours that he died in the attack, the Guardian reports.
At least two NATO bombs struck the family compound on April 30 while Gaddafi was there, although his supporters said that he had survived "unhurt".
However, he did not attend the funeral of his son Saif al-Arab and three grandchildren who were also reportedly killed in the attack.
Officials blamed security fears for keeping him away and accused Nato of trying to assassinate him.
An FCO spokesman said: "We don't comment on rumour and speculation."
Nato officials, who began the campaign in March, have stepped up the pace of air strikes in Tripoli in recent weeks, aimed at what they described as the regime's military command and communications centres.
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