Cries of support at pro-Gadhafi rally in Tripoli

AP – In this photo taken on a government-organized tour Libyan women chant and hold Moammar Gadhafi's portraits …

By ADAM SCHRECK, Associated Press – 5 mins ago

TRIPOLI, Libya – Supporters of Moammar Gadhafi rallied Thursday in Tripoli after the Libyan leader lashed out at NATO over civilian casualties, calling the alliance "murderers" following an airstrike on the family home of a close associate.

A few hundred supporters, most of them women, gathered in the capital's Green Square hours after the late-night speech, vowing to defend the Libyan leader against rebels seeking to oust him and NATO forces giving them air support.

Gadhafi also warned the alliance that its more than three-month mission in Libya is a "crusader's campaign" that could come back to haunt the West.

"What you are doing will rebound against you and against the world with destruction, desolation and terrorism. You are launching a second crusader war that might extend to Africa, Europe and America," he said in an audio address first aired on Libyan state television late Wednesday.

"Go on and attack us for two years, three years or even 10 years. But in the end, the aggressor is the one who will lose. One day we will be able to retaliate in the same way, and your houses will be legitimate targets for us," Gadhafi added.

The defiant address was the first from the Libyan leader since NATO targeted a compound Monday owned by Khoweildi al-Hamidi, a longtime regime insider whose daughter is married to one of Gadhafi's sons.

Gadhafi blasted the alliance for that strike, calling NATO "criminals" and "savages" and asking rhetorically: "Is this house a military target?"

Libya says 19 people, including at least three children and other civilians, were killed in that strike near the town of Surman, some 40 miles (60 kilometers) west of Tripoli. NATO has called the compound a "command and control" center and says it regrets any civilian deaths.

That bombing came a day after NATO acknowledged that one of its airstrikes may have slammed into a civilian neighborhood in Tripoli. Libyan officials said nine civilians were killed in that strike, though a family member told The Associated Press at the scene that five people died.

NATO is investigating what happened in the Tripoli neighborhood strike and insists it goes to great lengths not to harm civilians.

A coalition including France, Britain and the United States began striking Gadhafi's forces under a United Nations resolution to protect civilians on March 19. NATO assumed control of the air campaign over Libya on March 31. It's joined by a number of Arab allies.

Meanwhile, judges at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, said they will rule Monday on whether to order the arrest of Gadhafi for allegedly orchestrating deadly attacks on civilians.

A warrant would turn Gadhafi into an internationally wanted war crimes suspect at risk of detention if he ever ventured outside Libya.

A judicial panel will also announce whether it will issue arrest warrants for Gadhafi's son Seif al-Islam and intelligence chief Abdullah al-Sanoussi.

Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo alleges Gadhafi's forces attacked civilians in their homes, shot at demonstrators, shelled funeral processions and deployed snipers to kill people leaving mosques during the violent crackdown on rebels.

The International Committee of the Red Cross on Thursday began sea transfer of Libyans separated from their families by the fighting. The humanitarian organization, aided by the Libyan Red Crescent, said it plans to take three boatloads of people from Tripoli to the de facto rebel capital of Benghazi. Others will be taken in the opposite direction.

Rebels control the eastern third of the country and pockets in the west. Libyans living in rebel-held areas are largely cut off from their countrymen in areas under Gadhafi's control.

Italy, which is participating in the NATO campaign, expressed concern Wednesday about the accidental killing of civilians in alliance airstrikes and called for a suspension in hostilities to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid.

But NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in a video message on the NATO website the alliance would press on with its mission in Libya because stopping would mean more civilians could lose their lives.

"Remember, the Gadhafi regime began this conflict by attacking its own people with sustained and systematic violence — not NATO," Rasmussen said.

In the Czech capital, Prague, British Prime Minister David Cameron told reporters the coalition needs to be patient and persistent in the Libya mission, countering growing skepticism in the West over the military campaign.

"Time is on our side. Time is not on the side of Col. Gadhafi, who is losing his leading military commanders, who has lost his foreign minister, who has lost his oil minister, who's lost most of his country, who is losing in the west of the country where the rebellion is growing," Cameron said.

Reports of civilian deaths in NATO strikes have provoked intense anger among Gadhafi supporters.

Pro-Gadhafi demonstrators rallying in Tripoli on Thursday railed against NATO for striking civilians. Some women at the demonstration came armed, vowing to fight to defend their country and its leader.

"Everyone is training (to fight) since high school for a day like today," said dentist Hanin Khalil, 30, an aging Beretta submachine gun slung over her shoulder. "Not only (I) have a weapon. All people have their weapons to protect themselves from NATO."

Despite the heavy security presence, not everyone in the iconic central square was behind the longtime Libyan leader.

One young man in a white compact car driving around the square spotted two Western journalists and yelled in English from the passenger seat.

"Gadhafi, he go down," he said while pointing his thumb toward the ground as the car sped away.

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Associated Press writers Maamoun Youssef in Cairo and Don Melvin in Brussels contributed to this report.

Neighbor: Parents of shooting suspect devastated

AP – The media stakes out the home of Jared Loughner in Tucson, Ariz., Monday, Jan. 10, 2011. Loughner is …

By JUSTIN PRITCHARD and AMANDA LEE MYERS, Associated Press Justin Pritchard And Amanda Lee Myers, Associated Press – 1 hr 16 mins ago

TUCSON, Ariz. – The parents of a man charged with trying to assassinate Rep. Gabrielle Giffords are devastated and guilt-ridden, a neighbor said, mourning their own tragedy as Tucson residents prepared Tuesday for a community memorial service and a visit from the president.

Jared Loughner's mother has been in bed, crying nonstop since the shooting rampage on Saturday, neighbor Wayne Smith, 70, told KPHO-TV. Amy and Randy Loughner want to know where they went wrong with their 22-year-old son.

The younger Loughner is charged with trying to kill the Democratic lawmaker and killing a federal judge.

"I told them they didn't fail. They taught him everything about right and wrong," Smith said. "We all know you can teach someone everything and have no control how it works out."

Loughner's parents have not appeared publicly or spoken since the incident, though Smith said the father plans to release a statement.

At University Medical Center, Giffords remained in critical condition, but doctors said she is able to draw breaths on her own. Dr. Michael Lemole, Giffords' neurosurgeon, said, however, that doctors left the breathing tube in Giffords to protect her airway.

When asked about swelling in her brain on the third day, which is when it often reaches its peak after an injury, Lemole said a CT scan early Tuesday showed no increase in swelling. But he cautioned that it can sometimes take longer for brain swelling to reach its peak.

Meanwhile, the parents of one of Loughner's close friends, Zach Osler, described a troubled relationship between the suspect — an only child — and his parents.

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In an interview with The Associated Press, George and Roxanne Osler recalled the only time they met the rest of his family.

In 2008, the Loughner parents showed up at the Osler's doorstep looking for their son, who had left home about a week before and broken off all contact, George Osler IV said.

Jared often spent time at the Osler's place, sometimes watching conspiracy-theory movies with Zach and his younger brother, George V.

Mrs. Osler said she was struck by how unfailingly polite he was — far more so than their son's other teenage friends.

With the Loughners at his house, Zach Osler told them the name of the local hotel where their son was staying. The Loughners were able to patch things up and Jared moved back in with his parents, Zach's father said.

After that, the elder Osler sometimes would see Mrs. Loughner at the local supermarket, though they didn't chat much. He recalled that every time he saw her she had at least one 30-pack of beer in her cart.

Jared Loughner grew up on a typical Tucson block of low-slung homes with palm trees and cactus gardens out front.

Loughner's father moved into the house as a bachelor, and eventually got married and the Loughners had Jared, longtime next-door neighbor George Gayan said. Property records show Randy Loughner has lived there since 1977.

AP/Ross D. Franklin

Gayan said he had "differences of opinion but nothing where it was radical or violent." He declined to provide specifics.

"As time went on, they indicated they wanted privacy," Gayan said. Friends of Jared Loughner have described him as a loner.

Unlike other homes on the block, the Loughners' is obscured by plants.

Amy Loughner got a job with the county just before Jared was born, and since at least 2002 has been the supervisor for Roy P. Drachman Agua Caliente Park on the outskirts of the city. She earns $25.70 an hour, according to Gwyn Hatcher, Pima County's human resources director.

Randy Lougher apparently has not worked for years — at least outside his home. One thing he did do was fix up cars. Gayan said he had three "show cars" and two of Jared Lougher's friends said he bought a junker '69 orange Chevrolet Nova and made it pristine.

On Monday, Jared Loughner appeared in court wearing a beige prison jumpsuit and handcuffs and sporting a pink gash on the hairline of his shaved head. A judge asked if he understood that he could get life in prison — or the death penalty — for killing federal Judge John Roll.

"Yes," Loughner replied.

Loughner was being held without bail.

Meanwhile, residents of Tucson prepared for memorial services Tuesday for the six killed in the shooting.

A Mass for all the victims at St. Odelia's Parish in Tucson — was set for Tuesday evening, and President Barack Obama was scheduled to arrive in Arizona Wednesday for a memorial service days after calling the attack a tragedy for the entire country.

Loughner's court appearance in Phoenix on Monday gave the nation a first look at the man authorities say is responsible for the shooting that also left 14 injured outside a Tucson supermarket where Giffords had set up a booth to hear the concerns of constituents.

Eric Fuller, one of the survivors, said Tuesday on the CBS "The Early Show" that he felt the bullet that hit his knee but didn't know he had also been hit in the back.

"Not wanting to leave the world very soon, and not thinking that I could do very much except maybe get killed trying to stop him from the vantage point that I was at, I fell to the ground, as other people were doing — and expected the worst to occur after that," he said.

Loughner is charged with one count of attempted assassination of a member of Congress, two counts of killing an employee of the federal government and two counts of attempting to kill a federal employee. Those are federal charges.

His newly appointed lawyer is Judy Clarke, who defended "Unabomber" Ted Kaczynski.

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Associated Press writers Julie Pace in Washington, Marcia Dunn in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Paul Davenport, Jacques Billeaud and Julie Watson in Phoenix, and Terry Tang, Pauline Arrillaga and Alicia Chang in Tucson, Ariz., contributed to this report.