Libya strike levels part of Qaddafi's compound

TRIPOLI - A cruise missile blasted Muammar Qaddafi's residential compound in an attack that carried as much symbolism as military effect, and fighter jets destroyed a line of tanks moving on the rebel capital. The U.S. said the international assault would hit any government forces attacking the opposition.

Oil prices jumped to nearly $103 a barrel Monday in Asia after the Libyan leader vowed a "long war" amid a second night of allied strikes in the OPEC nation. Jubilant rebels said they expected to bring him down in a matter of days.

It was not known where Qaddafi was when the missile hit near his iconic tent late Sunday, but it seemed to show that while the allies trade nuances over whether the Libyan leader's fall is a goal of their campaign — he is not safe.

Navy Vice Adm. William E. Gortney, staff director for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a Pentagon news conference that Qaddafi and his residence are not on a list of targets to be hit by coalition aircraft. But Qaddafi won't be safe "if he happens to be at a place, if he is inspecting a surface-to-air missile site and we don't have any idea that he's there or not," Gortney said.

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CBS News national security correspondent David Martin says U.S. intelligence officials received signals that the building was being used as a command and control center for Libyan government troops. That information was passed on to the crew of a British attack submarine based in the Mediterranean, which struck the complex with at least one cruise missile.

Half of the round, three-story building was knocked down and pieces of the missile were scattered around, according to Associated Press photographer escorted to the scene by the Libyan government. About 300 Qaddafi supporters were in the compound at the time. It was not known if any were hurt, but a government supporter told Sky News nobody had been killed.

While the U.S. and its allies have dubbed the building a command and control center, Libya insists it was merely an administrative building inside Qaddafi's sprawling complex.

Britain said Monday one of its bombing missions was aborted Sunday night to avoid civilian casualties.

"We believe that a number of civilians had been moved within the intended target area," the Ministry of Defense said Monday. State television had said Qaddafi's supporters were converging on airports as human shields.

The U.S. military said the bombardment so far — a rain of Tomahawk cruise missiles and precision bombs from American and European aircraft, including long-range stealth B-2 bombers — had hobbled Qaddafi's air defenses. More missile strikes overnight did new damage to anti-aircraft sites, the Italian military said.

The overnight strikes essentially completed the preplanned phase of the coalition strategy -- to take out Libya's air defenses, making it easier for coalition planes to police the United Nations-mandated no-fly zone, and harder for Qaddafi's forces to provide air support for his troops on the ground.

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U.S., British and French planes went after tanks headed toward Benghazi, in the opposition-held eastern half of the country. On Sunday, at least seven demolished tanks smoldered in a field 12 miles south of Benghazi, many of them with their turrets and treads blown off, alongside charred armored personnel carriers, jeeps and SUVs of the kind used by Qaddafi fighters.

CBS News correspondent Mandy Clark reports that, while there were scattered gunfights between Qaddafi loyalists still inside Benghazi and rebels who hold the city, the rebel movement has been given a major morale boost by the air strikes.

Driving from the city's center westward, in the direction of Tripoli, rebels were keen to show off the destroyed government tanks and vehicles to Clark, and they vowed to push on to the capital city and topple Qaddafi.

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"I feel like in two days max we will destroy Qaddafi," said Ezzeldin Helwani, 35, a rebel standing next to the smoldering wreckage of an armored personnel carrier, the air thick with smoke and the pungent smell of burning rubber. In a grisly sort of battle trophy, celebrating fighters hung a severed goat's head with a cigarette in its mouth from the turret of one of the gutted tanks.

The strikes that began early Sunday gave respite to Benghazi, which the day before had been under a heavy attack that killed at least 120 people. The calm highlighted the dramatic turnaround that the allied strikes bring to Libya's month-old upheaval: For the past 10 days, Qaddafi's forces had been on a triumphant offensive against the rebel-held east, driving opposition fighters back with the overwhelming firepower of tanks, artillery, warplanes and warships.

Now Qaddafi's forces are potential targets for U.S. and European strikes. The U.N. resolution authorizing international military action in Libya not only sets up a no-fly zone but allows "all necessary measures" to prevent attacks on civilians.

But the U.S. military, for now at the lead of the international campaign, is trying to walk a fine line over the end game of the assault. It is avoiding for now any appearance that it aims to take out Qaddafi or help the rebels oust him, instead limiting its stated goals to protecting civilians.

Britain also is treading carefully. Foreign Secretary William Hague refused Monday to say if Qaddafi would or could be assassinated, insisting he would not "get drawn into details about what or whom may be targeted."

"I'm not going to speculate on the targets," Hague said in a heated interview with BBC radio. "That depends on the circumstances at the time."

A military official said Air Force B-2 stealth bombers flew 25 hours in a round trip from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri and dropped 45 2,000-pound bombs.

What happens if rebel forces eventually go on the offensive against Qaddafi's troops remains unclear.

Rebels defended their support of the international intervention into Libya — apparently feeling the sting of criticism from other Libyans and Arabs who warned the country could be divided or collapse into a civil war.

"Libya will not turn into Somalia or Iraq. It will not be divided. We are battling — the Libyan people — are battling a gang of mercenaries," Mohammed al-Misrati, a rebel spokesman in the stronghold of Misrata, told Al-Jazeera on Monday.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said late Sunday that the U.S. expects turn over control of the operation to a coalition headed by France, Britain or NATO "in a matter of days," reflecting concern that the U.S. military was stretched thin by its current missions. Turkey was blocking NATO action, which requires agreement by all 28 members of the alliance.

Sunday night, heavy anti-aircraft fire erupted repeatedly in the capital, Tripoli, with arcs of red tracer bullets and exploding shells in the dark sky — marking the start of a second night of international strikes. Qaddafi supporters in the streets shot automatic weapons in the air in a show of defiance. It was not immediately known what was being targeted in the new strikes.

Libyan army spokesman Col. Milad al-Fokhi said Libyan army units had been ordered to cease fire at 9 p.m. local time, but the hour passed with no letup in military activity.

Qaddafi vowed to fight on. In a phone call to Libyan state television Sunday, he said he would not let up on Benghazi and said the government had opened up weapons depots to all Libyans, who were now armed with "automatic weapons, mortars and bombs."

"We promise you a long war," he said.