Colonel Gaddafi is wounded and has left Tripoli

'Colonel Gaddafi is wounded and has left Tripoli' claims Italian foreign minister

Colonel Gaddafi has very likely left the Libyan capital and is probably wounded, an Italian government minister has claimed.
Foreign minister Franco Frattini said he believed reports from Giovanni Innocenzo Martinelli, the Catholic Bishop in Tripoli, that the despot had been wounded by Nato airstrikes.
He told reporters in Tuscany that 'Gaddafi was most probably outside Tripoli and probably even wounded'. The Libyan government has denied the reports.

Rumours: The Italian foreign minister has claimed that Colonel Gaddafi, the Libyan dictator, is probably wounded and has left Tripoli

Mr Frattini stressed that Italy has 'no hard information on the current fate of Gaddafi'.
Still, 'I tend to take as credible the words of the Tripoli Archbishop (Giovanni) Martinelli who tells us that Gaddafi is very probably outside of Tripoli and probably also wounded,' the ANSA news agency quoted Mr Frattini as telling reporters in Rome.

 

In comments during a TV interview posted on the Corriere della Sera newspaper's website, Mr Frattini added that 'international pressure has likely provoked the decision by Gaddafi to seek refuge in a safe place.'
'I lean toward the solution of an escape from Tripoli, not an escape from Libya,' he said.
'Libya is a big country, with desert areas.'

Fake? The Libyan leader was filmed talking to tribal elders apparently in a Tripoli hotel.Mr Frattini expressed scepticism over the footage

Colonel Gaddafi's compound has been a frequent site of Nato-led air strikes, including an attack on April 30 where he is believed to have been inside but have escaped unharmed.
The claims come the day after the colonel made his first TV appearance in weeks after a Nato air strike on Tripoli killed his youngest son and three grandchildren.
It was the first sighting of the Libyan dictator since April 9. He was filmed talking with tribal leaders in a hotel in the capital.
A projection screen behind him showed a morning chat show on state al-Jamahirya TV which displayed yesterday's date in one corner.
It seemed a very deliberate move to scotch rumours - helped along by an official Nato spokesman the day before - that he may have been killed by an air strike.
Gaddafi had been in hiding since the rocket attack which struck a house in Tripoli. The Libyan government said he and his wife were unhurt in the attack.
Mr Frattini said he had 'many doubts that that footage had been made that day and especially in Tripoli.'
Nato air attacks have continuously targeted Gaddafi's compounds in and around the Libyan capital ever since support for the rebel forces from the east began several weeks ago - although leaders claim not to be deliberately targeting him.
Nato has said it has carried out around 2,400 sorties against the Colonels forces since March 31.