| The Libyan state television broadcast video showed Wednesday that Muammar Gaddafi met with tribal elders from the eastern part of the country in a hotel in Tripoli.
The footage, which did not tell the date of the meeting, marks the Libyan leader's first public appearance in nearly two weeks. The TV showed that Gaddafi was wearing sunglasses and dressing in dark clothing.
Libyan government spokesman Musa Ibrahim had said earlier in the day that Gaddafi was "alive, well and very healthy," according to a CNN report.
Ibrahim added that Gaddafi had been targeted three times by NATO airstrikes and that government officials were worried about his safety. "We need him to lead, to be safe," Ibrahim said.
On April 30, a NATO airstrike hit a Tripoli compound reportedly housing Gaddafi and one of his sons. Gaddafi's youngest son, Saif al-Arab Gaddafi, and three of his grandchildren were killed in the strike.
On the same day, Gaddafi ruled out the possibility that he will quit and leave Libya, which he has been ruling over the past 41 years.
The world's major powers, the United States, Britain and France, started on March 19 to launch strikes from the air and sea against Gaddafi's forces after the UN Security Council passed a resolution to impose a no-fly zone over Libya and authorize "all necessary measures" to protect civilians in Libya, Xinhua reported. |
