Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi remained defiant on Tuesday after his compound was hit by NATO bombs and rebels in Misrata said they had pushed his troops out of the besieged city

Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi remained defiant on Tuesday after his compound was hit by NATO bombs and rebels in Misrata said they had pushed his troops out of the besieged city.
  
"The leader is working from Tripoli. The leader is well, is very healthy, is leading the battle for peace and democracy in Libya," regime spokesman Mussa Ibrahim said outside the bombed building at Gaddafi's Bab al-Aziziya residence. "The leader is in a safe place. He is leading a battle... he works every day. He led the battle to provide people with services, with food, medicine, fuel," Ibrahim told a news conference in the presence of several ambassadors.
  
A meeting room facing Gaddafi's office was badly damaged in what NATO in Brussels said was "a precision strike" on a communications centre early on Monday. Three people were killed and 45 wounded -- 15 seriously -- in the air strike, Ibrahim said.
  
At least five explosions rocked eastern Tripoli on Monday night, witnesses said, although they could not pinpoint the location. Two other detonations shook the same neighbourhood a few minutes later, another witness said.
  
Rebels in Misrata, east of Tripoli, said they have pushed Gaddafi's troops out of the city after a siege lasting more than seven weeks. The claims came even as rockets continued to rain down on the country's third city.

According to figures provided by sources at hospitals across Misrata, around a dozen people were killed and at least 20 wounded in fighting through the night on Monday. Sources said those caught up in the violence were all civilians -- including young children.

Libya's Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim says the army suspended operations against rebels in Misrata, but hasn't left the city, to enable local tribes to settle the battle "peacefully and not militarily." Meanwhile, 2,000 foreigners remain in Misrata still hoping to be evacuated, US officials said Monday.
  
Also Monday, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said Italy's air force will take part in "targeted action" in Libya.
  
On the diplomatic front, British defence minister Liam Fox travelled to the United States for Libya talks with American counterpart Robert Gates, officials in London said.