Explosions rock Tripoli

Tripoli was rocked by a series of airstrikes by NATO forces in the early hours of the  morning Sunday Libyan television reported that the "NATO crusader forces" had hit civilian and military targets in the eastern suburb of Tajoura.
Just after midnight Sunday, a series of dull rumbles and flashes could be seen to the east of Tripoli, illuminating huge plumes of smoke and accompanied by the sporadic tracers of antiaircraft fire.

The distant rumbling blasts continued for at least an hour, suggesting some kind of facility with explosive materials had been hit.

Aircraft could be heard soaring through the night sky, which was illuminated by a nearly full moon.

NATO fighters have been carrying out airstrikes against Libyan military targets as part of a U.N.-mandated operation to protect civilians.

The blasts come after three days of defiant speeches by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.

Gadhafi said Saturday afternoon that his country will never surrender in the face of assaults by rebels and a NATO air campaign.

In an audio address directed at the city of Zawiya where thousands demonstrated their support, Gadhafi promised that Libya would keep fighting.

"After we gave our children as martyrs, we can't backtrack, or surrender or give up or move an inch," he said, his voice booming over loudspeakers in the center of town. "Rest assured in your tombs, our martyrs, we will not betray you ever."

The speech was the third in as many days, each addressing inhabitants of a town under his control while thousands chanted their support for the country's leader of the past 41 years.

In his speech, also broadcast on national television, Gadhafi said the NATO airstrikes on Libya must stop to save civilian lives.

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