Crowds Attack Empty UK, Italy Embassies in Tripoli

Crowds in the Libyan capital of Tripoli set fire to the empty British embassy and vandalized the Italian embassy on Sunday, a day after NATO bombed Libyan Leader Muammar Gaddafi's compound in a suburb of the city.

Officials in London and Rome reported the attacks, according to Bloomberg. Meanwhile the U.K. gave Omar Jelban, Libya's Ambassador, 24 hours to leave the country.

Video from the BBC shows rooms at the embassy smoldering and filled with ashes, with burned furniture strewn about.

Foreign Secretary William Hague said the Gaddafi regime had failed to protect the embassy.

The United Nations said Sunday it was evacuating its international staff from the Libyan capital of Tripoli due to the unrest, according to the Voice of America.

Libya's government accused and NATO denied an assassination attempt on Col. Muammar Gaddafi on Sunday after NATO bombed the leader's compound in Tripoli's suburbs on Saturday evening, with a Libyan government spokesman saying the attack killed one of the leader's sons and three grandchildren.