Pat Dollard

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States launched its first Predator drone strike in Libya on Saturday, the Defense Department said in a statement.

It did not provide details on the target of the strike, saying only that it occurred in the early afternoon local time in Libya.

Gates announced on Thursday that the unmanned aircraft would be used in Libya for Hellfire missile attacks on the forces of leader Muammar Gaddafi.

General James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the U.S. plan called for keeping two patrols of armed Predators above Libya at any given time, permitting better surveillance — and targeting — of Gaddafi’s forces. The drones are based in the region but typically flown by remote control by pilots in the United States.

The U.S. military has been using other drones to target militants along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan. The drones in Libya were not taken from Afghanistan, U.S. officials said.

Voice of America News:

NATO forces have bombed an area close to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s compound in Tripoli, hitting what reporters described as a military installation.

The strike early Saturday set off alarms in the capital, but caused no injuries.

Libyan officials described the site that was hit as a parking lot. But reporters on the scene say two bomb craters exposed a layer of reinforced concrete covering what appeared to be a bunker. They said ammunition crates also lay close by.

Also Saturday, the Italian Foreign Ministry said Libyan authorities have released an Italian ship detained in the port of Tripoli last month along with its 11 crewmembers.

The ship, which was working for an Italian oil company, was seized shortly before an international coalition began imposing a no-fly zone over Libya.

On Friday, Libyan officials said the military will withdraw from the city of Misrata, which has been the scene of some of the fiercest fighting between pro-Gadhafi forces and opposition rebels.

Libya’s deputy foreign minister, Khaled Kaim, said the fate of the city will be left to the “tribes around Misrata and the Misrata people.”

He did not say when or under what circumstances the army would leave.

Earlier Friday, U.S. Senator John McCain toured the Libyan rebel stronghold of Benghazi and called on the U.S. and other world powers to recognize the rebels’ transitional council.

The Republican lawmaker said he will demand the Obama administration provide more funds for rebels to, in his words, “get this thing over with” and remove Mr. Gadhafi from power.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said it is up to the “people of Libya to decide” who should run their country.