Nato air strike kills 9 civilians in Tripoli

Nato air strike kills 9 civilians 

in Tripoli residential area

  A Nato air strike on a residential district of Tripoli early yesterday killed nine people, five of them from the same family, and wounded 18, Libyan government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim told AFP.

        "The toll has now risen to nine martyrs, including five from the same family, and 18 wounded," Ibrahim said.

        Earlier in the day, journalists had been shown the bodies of five people, one of them a woman and two of them toddlers.

"The other four people were killed as they passed by in front of the block of flats when the raid hit," Ibrahim said.

        The Nato spokesman Wing Commander Mike Bracken said in a statement that the military alliance took "all reports of civilian casualties seriously and we will continue to look into the allegations to determine their authenticity".

        The alleged civilian casualties in Tripoli come amid mounting international pressure on the alliance to seek a negotiated solution.

        After talks in Cairo on Saturday, the African Union, Arab League, European Union and United Nations issued a joint statement on the importance of "accelerating the launch of a political process that responds to the legitimate aspirations of the Libyan people."

      EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton attended the meeting along with outgoing Arab League chief Amr Mussa and African Union head Jean Ping, while UN chief Ban Ki-moon joined by live video link. 

     Ban said the roots of a negotiating process were showing but that the international community needed to give a "consistent message" on a political solution with Gaddafi.