Muammar Gaddafi safe and his morale high: Spokesman

Tripoli, April 26: Muammar Gaddafi is in a safe place and his morale is high, a regime spokesman said on Mondayafter an overnight NATO air strike on the Libyan leader's compound wrecked his office.

"The leader is working from Tripoli. The leader is well, is very healthy, is leading the battle for peace and democracy in Libya," Mussa Ibrahim told reporters outside the destroyed building at Gaddafi's Bab al-Aziziya residence.

"The leader is in a safe place. He is leading a battle...he works every day. He led the battle to provide people with services, with food, medicine, fuel," Ibrahim told a news conference in the presence of several ambassadors.

He called the NATO raid "an attempt to assassinate the leader and other political leaders of this country" and "an act of terrorism."

Ibrahim said three people were killed and 45 wounded -- 15 seriously -- in the air strike. He also accused the NATO alliance and the Libyan rebels battling his regime of being afraid of peace.

"The rebels are scared of peace, NATO is scared of peace. They know that in peace they will be kicked out of this country," Ibrahim said.

"Why don't you come in on the ground and test our honesty, our transparency? We said yes to elections, yes to a referendum, yes to a transitional period, yes to negotiations."

An international coalition intervened on March 19, launching air raids and missile strikes under a UN mandate aimed at protecting civilians from Gaddafi's forces fighting the rebellion that erupted in mid-February.

NATO took command of air campaign on March 31.

PTI