Tripoli mobs attack U.N., Western missions

TRIPOLI, Libya, May 1 (UPI) -- The United Nations said Sunday it was evacuating most of its staff from Tripoli, Libya, after a mob sacked its mission and the British and Italian embassies.

No one was injured when a mob stormed the U.N. office before dawn in a protest over a NATO air raid that reportedly killed one of Moammar Gadhafi's sons and three grandchildren.

A U.N. spokesman told The New York Times a handful of its people would remain on the job but would be working from their homes.

Officials in London and Rome said none of their diplomats were reported injured, but the embassies were seriously damaged.

"The attacks against diplomatic missions will not weaken our resolve to protect the civilian population in Libya," declared British Foreign Secretary William Hague.

The reports on the NATO airstrike remained fairly unclear Sunday. CNN said Gadhafi and his wife were at his son Saif's home in Tripoli when the strike occurred, killing Saif Gadhafi and three of his children. CNN said it could not independently verify the reports.

NATO denied it had targeted Gadhafi and regretted the loss of life. A Libyan government spokesman, however, called the attack an assassination attempt.

"This was a direct operation to assassinate the leader of this country," said spokesman Moussa Ibrahim. "This is not permitted by international law. It is not permitted by any moral code or principle."