Around 2:30am bright flashes, loud explosions split the night near Gadhafi's headquarters at Bab al-Aziziyah

Rebels say Gadhafi must face trial as Tripoli hit

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FRANCES D'EMILIO
Published: Today

Italian foreign minister Franco Frattini , right, and vice-chairman of the Executive Board of the Libyan National Transitional Congress Ali al-Issawi talk to the media during a press conference in Rome, Friday, July 22, 2011. Ali al-Issawi told reporters in Rome that the first step is for Gadhafi to step down. He said that Gadhafi's crimes "cannot be forgiven" and that they "touched the whole world," making the international criminal court the appropriate venue. The insistence comes as consensus grows for the option of allowing the longtime dictator remain in his homeland if he relinquishes power. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

ROME (AP) - A Libyan rebel spokesman insisted Friday that Moammar Gadhafi stand trial at the international war crimes tribunal, despite growing Western consensus that the longtime dictator be allowed to stay in his homeland if he relinquishes power.

NATO jet planes, meanwhile, struck the capital Tripoli near Gadhafi's headquarters at Bab al-Aziziyah in the early hours of the morning Saturday.

Several bright flashes and loud explosions split the night at around 2:30 a.m. local time while jets could be heard circling overhead.

NATO bombing raids and other military operations began this spring to protect civilians rebelling against the Libyan regime, but Gadhafi has managed to keep his grip on the capital, Tripoli, to the frustration of Western leaders.

NATO planes struck a factory near the embattled oil city of Brega on Friday killing six guards, Libyan officials said.

The plant, located six miles (10 kilometers) south of the strategic oil installation, builds the huge pipes that carry water from underground aquifers deep in the south to the coast as part of the Great Man Made River irrigation project. "Major parts of the plant have been damaged," said Abdel-Hakim el-Shwehdy, head of the company running the project. "There could be major setback for the future projects." At least 70 percent of Libyans survive on the water carried through the pipes to the coast in the project, according to government figures.

"Most Libyans drink from the Great Manmade River, most Libyan land is farmed from the water, so any harm against this vital project is a harm aginst all Libyans," warned government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim. "We believe this a very dangerous development in NATO'S attacks."

Washington, Paris and Rome have all proclaimed their acceptance of the idea that Gadhafi remain in Libya on the condition that he give up power and the Libyan people grant their approval.

In Rome, rebel spokesman Ali al-Issawi met with Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini.

Asked how the so-called "leave Gadhafi in Libya option" squares with the warrant for his arrest by the International Criminal Court, al-Issawi told reporters that there was "no contradiction between the two."