NATO targets Gaddafi compound ,Blasts rock Tripoli

The bomb blast Tripoli for the second night in a row and Britain said weeks of NATO bombardment had inflicted extensive damage on Muammar Gaddafi's heavily-fortified compound.

Libya's leader is clinging to power despite a four-month-old NATO air campaign

The explosions hit Tripoli at about 1 a.m. Sunday, a day after NATO launched strikes on what it said was a military command site in Tripoli.

Major General Nick Pope, chief of the defense staff's communications officer, said Royal Air Force aircraft struck the high perimeter walls of Gaddafi's Bab al-Aziziyah complex.

"Gaddafi has for decades hidden from the Libyan people behind these walls. The vast Bab al-Aziziyah compound is not just his personal residence, but more importantly is also the main headquarters for his regime, with command and control facilities and an army barracks," Pope said Sunday.

"Successive NATO strikes in past weeks have inflicted extensive damage on the military facilities within."

As the war drags on longer than many had initially envisaged, the West is increasingly hoping for a negotiated end.

Gaddafi's foreign minister, Obeidi, left Cairo on Sunday after a three-day visit without making any comments.

"Obeidi met with a number of Egyptian officials and personalities to discuss the latest developments in Libya and ways to resolve the crisis in peaceful ways," a Libyan embassy official said without giving details. He was headed for Tunis.

Government spokesman Ibrahim said Friday Libyan representatives were ready to hold more talks with the United States and the rebels, but Gaddafi would not quit.

Ibrahim said senior Libyan officials had a "productive dialogue" with U.S. counterparts last week in a rare meeting that followed U.S. recognition of the rebel government.

"We believe other meetings in the future ... will help solve Libyan problems," Ibrahim told reporters in Tripoli. "We are willing to talk to the Americans more."

On the cusp of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, poorly armed rebels seem unlikely to quickly unseat Gaddafi. Khatib, a Jordanian senator, told Reuters in Amman he hoped both sides would accept his ideas.

The rebels declared advances this week but they also suffered losses near Misrata and in fighting for Brega.

Thursday rebels said minefields slowed their advance on Brega -- which they had earlier claimed to have all but captured -- but they had pushed closer to Zlitan, on the Mediterranean coast 160 km (100 miles) east of Tripoli.

It was relatively quiet on the western front near Zlitan on Sunday, with some sporadic fire from Gaddafi's forces. Most rebels were taking shelter from the sun. The main hospital in Misrata said one man had been killed and five wounded.