Berlusconi Dismisses Claim NATO Strike Killed Gadhafi's Son

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Wednesday dismissed a Libyan claim that an April 30 NATO air strike killed one of strongman Moammar Gadhafi's sons, the ANSA news agency reported.

Berlusconi said the international coalition had no information that 29-year-old Seif al-Arab, Gadhafi's youngest son, was dead, dismissing the report by a Libyan government spokesman as "propaganda".

"In fact, the youngest son was not in Libya, and he was living in another country, and it's the same story for the three grandchildren," the Italian leader added, calling the claims "unfounded".

"This is the information of our services," he said, referring to the country's military secret service.

The Libyan regime claimed on May 1 that a NATO raid killed Gadhafi's youngest son and three grandchildren but that the strongman escaped unhurt in what it called a deliberate assassination attempt.

NATO said at the time that it had staged air strikes in Tripoli but did not confirm the regime claims.

The following day, May 2, more than 1,000 people, some firing guns and chanting slogans in support of Moammar Gadhafi, gathered in Tripoli for what was said to the funeral of the Libyan strongman's son.

Berlusconi, in a television interview, hailed was he called the "decisive role" of the United States in the NATO operations against the Libyan regime.

He was speaking days ahead of a second round of municipal election, in which he risks losing control of his fiefdom of Milan, the country's economic capital.

Obama, during a visit to London Wednesday, admitted that NATO's campaign in Libya has limits but warned pressure will mount on Gadhafi to quit.