NATO air strikes hit govt buildings in Tripoli

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TRIPOLI, May 17 (AP): NATO air strikes hit a security services building and an anti-corruption compound, government officials said. A security services building and the headquarters of Libya's anti-corruption agency in Tripoli have been set ablaze after being hit by apparent NATO air strikes. The two buildings on Al-Jumhuriya Avenue are close to the residence of leader Muammar Gaddafi, in an area where two explosions were heard at around 5:30am on Tuesday (1:30am local time), reports Al Jazeera. By 3.00 am, firefighters were battling to control flames that were tearing through the two facing buildings. The head of Libya's Ministry for Inspection and Popular Control, the anti-corruption agency, was at the scene and said that some ministry employees had been injured, but provided no further details. Government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim later said that the rebel National Transitional Council (NTC), based in eastern city of Benghazi, had directed NATO to attack the agency in a bid to destroy files related to former regime officials who have joined the rebellion. "We believe that NATO has been misled to destroy files on their corruption cases," he told reporters. Three explosions had also been heard earlier in the same area. Parts of Tripoli have been targeted almost daily by NATO-led strikes carried out since a March 19 UN resolution called for the protection of civilians from Gaddafi's regime. The assertion that Gaddafi is authorising the killing of civilians in a crackdown on anti-government rebels has prompted the International Criminal Court (ICC) to seek arrest warrants on Monday for the Libyan leader, his son and the country's intelligence chief.