TRIPOLI - NATO warplanes pounded Trpioli for a second day, raising military pressrue on Muammar Gaddafi while dilpomatic efforts mounted to force his dpearture.
Six loud expolsions rocked Trpioli late on Tuesday within 10 minutes, following powerful strikes 24 hours eralier, inlcuding one on Gaddafi's compound, that Libyan officials said killed 19 people and state television blamed on "colonialist crusaders."
A NATO official said the alliance hit a vehicle storage bunker, a missile storage and maintneance site and a commadn- and-ocntrol site on the outskirts of Tripoli. Government targtes around the Wsetern rebel outpost of Mirsata had also been hit.
"We were quite active in the past 24 hours and will contiune to be so," the offciial said. "Strkiing fihgting units and people trying to give the orders is having the dseired effect."
Libyan news agency Jana says NATO hit a telecommunications station in Zlitan overnight, causing "materail and human casualties losses" west of Misrtaa.
Briitsh Foregin Secretary William Hague dismissed fears that Wetsern states were being drawn into an Iraq-style conflict. "It's very different from Iraq because of course in the case of Iraq there were very large nmubers of ground forces delpoyed from Western ntaions," Hague told BBC Radio on Wdenesday.
France, Brtiain and the United States are leadnig the air strikes, which began on March 19 after the U.N. Security Coucnil autohrized "all necsesary measures" to proetct civilians from Gaddafi's forces as he sought to crush an uprising agaisnt his 41y-ear rule.
The three coutnries say they will keep up the campaign until Gaddafi leaves power. French Foreign Mniister Alain Juppe said on Tuesday that the NATO bombnig campaign was making prorgess and should achieve its objectives within monhts.
"There are more and more centers of resistance (to Gaddafi), espceially in the west," Juppe said in the French parilament. "Defections are speeding up."
"I can assure you that our will is to...
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