NATO bombards Tripoli in biggest attack yet!

NATO warplanes mounted what appeared to be the most intense bombardment by allied forces since the campaign to oust Muammar Gaddafi began, repeatedly bombing targets around the Libyan capital, Tripoli.
A rapid string of strikes, all within 30 minutes, rattled windows and sent plumes of smoke wafting over the city, the Associated Presse reports.
Reuters quoted a correspondent for Arab news channel Al Arabiya as saying 17 missiles had struck various parts of Tripoli. One column of smoke rose from an area close to Gaddafi’s Bab al-Aziziya compound, suggesting that it might have been a target.
A Libyan government spokesman, Mussa Ibrahim, said the bombardment had killed three people and wounded 150.
NATO warplanes have been carrying out air strikes on Libya for more than two months since the U.N. authorized "all necessary measures" to protect civilians from Gaddafi's forces.
On Monday, Washington urged Gaddafi to leave Libya as its most senior envoy to date held talks in the rebel capital, Benghazi, Agence France-Press reports.
France and Britain, meanwhile, have decided to send strike helicopters into the battle against Gaddafi.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Monday the deployment falls within the U.N. mandate to protect Libyan civilians. He said it would take place as soon as possible.
NATO has about 200 aircraft available for its operation in Libya, but it has not yet used helicopters.

Meanwhile, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman became the most senior U.S. official to visit Libya since the uprising against Gaddafi began, visiting Benghazi in what the State Department calls "another signal" of America's support for the rebels' National Transitional Council. 

The State Department has called the NTC "a legitimate and credible interlocutor for the Libyan people," VOA reports.

His visit comes a day after the European Union's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, opened an EU office in Benghazi.

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