TRIPOLI - The government of Muammar Gaddafi said NATO strikes on Tripoli on Tuesday killed 31 people, adding that Western leaders were not seeking a peaceful solution but escalation.

Waves of NATO aircraft hit the Libyan capital in the most sustained bombardment of the city since Western forces began air strikes in March.

Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim told reporters it had been "one of the most horrific days of attack", and the strikes had killed at least 31 people, including civilians.

"How could the world sleep tonight knowing that armies of such evil are willingly and knowingly attacking a peaceful capital with 60 rockets and killing people ... while there is a way out of this. To sit down, talk and negotiate," Ibrahim said.

"Some Western politicians who are in power now are so corrupt morally, and so evil, that they can go to bed with their children, with their boys and daughters, without feeling any guilt, knowing that they are killing people," he said.