NATO batters Tripoli ahead of Russian envoy visit

Five powerful blasts rocked Tripoli late Sunday after three waves of explosions during the day, as warplanes overflew the city which has been the target of intense NATO raids for the past two weeks.

In a statement, the military alliance said it conducted "intensive and sustained strikes against pro-Gaddafi facilities in Tripoli throughout the day and night," including command and control centres.

The latest salvos came as Russian mediator Mikhail Margelov prepared to head the Libyan rebel stronghold of Benghazi on Monday after Moscow voiced concerns at the weekend about the NATO operation sliding towards a land campaign.

Margelov, President Dmitry Mevedev's special representative on Africa, said he plans "to meet leaders of Libya's National Transitional Council," Interfax news agency reported.

Russia, which is calling for a negotiated solution to the conflict, expressed alarm at the weekend as NATO's air war entered a new phase with the deployment of British and French attack helicopters.

It was a concern reiterated on Sunday by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov, who expressed doubt that NATO's use of helicopters was an acceptable way to impose a no-fly zone set out under a UN resolution.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague on Sunday defended the use of the helicopters and ruled out putting forces on the ground, saying NATO would stick to the terms of UN Resolution 1973 passed in March to protect civilians.

Hague admitted the NATO operation was "intensifying" and that there was no deadline, but denied any "mission creep" for the aerial bombing campaign launched nearly three months ago.

Head of the opposition National Transitional Council, Mustafa Abdul Jalil had praised the decision by Britain and France to deploy the attack helicopters, saying: "We welcome any action that could precipitate the end of Gaddafi’s regime."

British Tornado strike warplanes separately joined other NATO aircraft in a "major strike on a large surface-to-air missile depot" in Tripoli, Pope added.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said meanwhile that it was only a matter of time before Gaddafi's aides abandoned him.

"It's only a matter of time (before he falls)," Gates said. "I don't think anyone knows how long. But I think you see signs the regime is getting shakier by the day.

"It's just a question when everybody around Gaddafi decides it's time to throw in the towel and throw him under the bus," he said on a visit to Afghanistan.

Neighbouring Tunisia, meanwhile, kept up the grim task of attempting to recover the bodies of more than 200 migrants fleeing Libya's conflict after their boat capsized, a coastguard said.

And Iman al-Obeidi, who grabbed world headlines after accusing Gaddafi's soldiers of torturing and raping her, left Benghazi for the United States, her sister told AFP, after she was deported without explanation by Qatar on Saturday.