Low-flying NATO military craft hit Tripoli in eleven successive attacks on Tuesday in rare daytime strikes on the Libyan capital, the Associated Press reported. NATO is assisting a four-month old rebel insurgency that has seized swaths of eastern Libya and pockets in the country's west. Also on Tuesday, Tripoli dispatched Foreign Minister Abdul-Ati al-Obeidi to Beijing for a three-day visit. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters at a regular briefing Tuesday that talks with al-Obeidi would focus on the need for a political solution to the Libyan crisis. He also reiterated China's appeals for an immediate cease-fire and called on all parties to «fully consider the mediation proposals put forward by the international community so as to defuse the tensions as soon as possible.»
