Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- The heart of Moammar Gadhafi's compound in Tripoli lay in shambles Monday following bombing by the United States and its allies, prompting a debate about whether the allies were trying to kill the Libyan leader.

U.S. Vice Adm. Bill Gortney said neither Gadhafi nor his residence had been targeted. "We are not going after Gadhafi," he told reporters at the Pentagon. Asked about reports of smoke rising from the area of the Libyan leader's palace, Gortney said, "We are not targeting his residence."

The British called off a second bombing run targeting the compound for fear of hitting civilians, a Ministry of Defence spokesman told CNN Monday, declining to be named in line with British tradition.

The ministry said earlier that Royal Air Force GR4 Tornadoes were told not to launch weapons after "information came to light that identified a number of civilians within the intended target area." At the time it did not identify the target of the aborted mission.

 

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Gadhafi's whereabouts -- and his plans after promising a "long-drawn war" -- remained unknown Monday.

The U.S. military mission in Libya may have peaked, spokesman Vince Crowley said Monday.

"We are moving from the action phase to a patrolling phase," said Crowley, a spokesman for the military's Africa Command. "Our aircraft participation has... plateaued, if not reduced somewhat."

A witness in the Libyan city of Misrata reported "absolute destruction and carnage" by Gadhafi forces on Monday -- despite the regime's recent call for a cease-fire.

"Misrata is being flattened and razed to the ground as we speak," said the man, whom CNN is not naming to protect his safety. "He (Gadhafi) is using tanks and snipers to terrorize the city."

The man added, "They are shooting people in the main street and on the back street."

The Libyan military announced the cease-fire after an attack near Benghazi -- the heart of the Libyan opposition forces. Coalition forces pounded a Libyan military convoy there Sunday. At least 70 vehicles -- including armored personnel carriers and tanks -- were destroyed.

British military spokesman Maj. Gen. John Lorimer Monday dismissed the Libyan announcement.

"Although a Libyan cease-fire was announced again there has been no evidence to suggest there has been a change in their stance," he said.

Asked about the possibility of trying to kill Gadhafi to end his regime, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said it would be "unwise" to set specific goals.

 

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"I think that it's important that we operate within the mandate of the U.N. Security Council resolution," Gates told reporters Sunday while on a plane to Russia. "If we start adding additional objectives, then I think we create a problem in that respect. I also think that it is unwise to set as specific goals things that you may or may not be able to achieve."

The Security Council resolution, which passed Thursday, allows member states "to take all necessary measures to protect civilians under threat of attack in the country ... while excluding a foreign occupation force of any form on any part of Libyan territory."

Gates did not mention Libya in St. Petersburg, Russia, during his appearance Monday with Russian military officials. Russia has been critical of the air bombardment of Libya.

CNN's Nic Robertson was among several Western journalists taken inside Gadhafi's bombed compound by Libyan officials to survey the destruction.

Robertson reported a four-story building was heavily damaged. He held a chunk of metal retrieved from the site -- with writing in English -- that appeared to be from a cruise missile.

A Libyan government official said the building had been used by Gadhafi officials and said there were no casualties from the strike.

The building is about 100 yards from a statue of a golden fist crushing a model plane emblazoned with "USA" -- a monument to the 1986 American bombing of Libya in which a U.S. plane was shot down.

Not all countries support foreign attacks in Libya. The Russian government said the mission has killed innocent civilians and urged more caution. The Foreign Ministry in Moscow cited reports that "nonmilitary" targets were being bombed, including a cardiac center. India, China and Venezuela have also spoken out against the airstrikes.

Arab League Secretary-General Amre Moussa told reporters Sunday that what is happening in Libya is different from what was intended by imposing a no-fly zone, according to Egypt's al-Ahram newspaper.

"What we want is the protection of civilians and not the shelling of more civilians," he said. He added that "military operations may not be needed in order to protect the civilians."

But Arab League chief of staff Hisham Youssef said Moussa's comments did not signify a shift by the organization.

"The Arab League position has not changed. We fully support the implementation of a no-fly zone," Youssef said. "Our ultimate aim is to end the bloodshed and achieve the aspirations of the Libyan people."

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon -- who met Saturday with Moussa other world leaders to discuss Libya -- said support from Arab leaders was key to the Security Council's decision.

"The strong recommendation by the league of Arab states to take decisive measures -- including the establishment of a no-fly zone -- figured prominently in the adoption of the Security Council resolution," Ban told reporters in Egypt on Monday. "This decisive measure is meant to protect the civilian population, who are being killed by Colonel Gadhafi and his regime."

In Cairo, Ban was briefly mobbed by demonstrators chanting "Down with USA!" his spokesman Khawla Mattar said, adding that it was "not a serious incident."

The Libyan government has said that 48 people, mostly women, children and clerics, have died in allied attacks.

However, Gortney, the U.S. vice admiral, said, "We have no indication of any civilian casualties."

And France -- which conducted the first strike in Libya on Saturday when fighter jets fired at a military vehicle -- also disputed claims of civilian deaths.

"There is no information of killed civilians recorded by the French command," French government spokesman Francois Baroin said Monday on the French TV channel Canal+. "We must be cautious of communication campaigns and propaganda."

Ahmed Gebreel, a member of the Libyan opposition, told CNN the Gadhafi government collected bodies of people killed in fighting in the past week and displayed them over the weekend in an attempt to show they were killed by coalition airstrikes.

U.S. official said they plan to hand over operational control of the military mission. The coalition has nine other announced partners: Belgium, Britain, Canada, Denmark, France, Italy, Norway, Qatar and Spain.

"One of the things that was very much on (U.S. President Barack Obama's) mind is the importance of a meaningful coalition, meaning other countries making serious military contributions so the United States isn't carrying the preeminent responsibility for an indefinite period of time," Gates said.

Coalition members were still working out how the ongoing mission would be commanded, U.S. officials said Monday.

NATO could command the coalition's no-fly mission in Libya, but some Arab nations are hesitant to fly under a NATO banner, which has held up the move, said one official, who asked not to be identified due to the sensitivity of negotiations.

"NATO has the capability to do a rapid switchover," the official said. "The problem is, they have to do everything by consensus."

If Arab nations don't sign on to a NATO mission, the other option would be to create an ad-hoc command-and-control structure piece by piece, the defense official said. But that would take time, the official said.

As of Sunday night, the United States and British military had fired a total of 124 Tomahawk cruise missiles at Libya's air defense sites, Gortney said.

Also on Monday, the New York Times announced that its four journalists who had been held in Libya since last week had been released.