Two Loud Explosions Rock Tripoli in Libya

Two loud blasts shook Libya's capital Tripoli on Friday afternoon following a series of more distant explosions heard earlier in the day, an Agence France Presse journalist said.

Tripoli has been targeted anew by NATO warplanes, which since Thursday have been constantly overflying the Libyan capital.

The jets early Thursday destroyed an apparently empty hotel, the Wenzrik, in central Tripoli near administrative buildings and Libya's state broadcaster, an AFP reporter taken to the site said.

Libyan Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaaim later denounced what he called a "barbaric and premeditated raid by NATO on civilians."