Funeral held in Tripoli for Gaddafi’s son amid doubts (UPDATES) (VIDEO)

A funeral was held Monday for the youngest son of Muammar Gaddafi amid doubts about his unverified death, while pro-government forces launched new attacks on the western city of Misurata.

A day earlier, Gaddafi supporters torched the British embassy in Libya in revenge for the reported killing of Saif al-Arab and three of Gaddafi's grandchildren in a NATO missile strike.

Rome condemned a similar attack on Italy's diplomatic headquarters in Tripoli, as Silvio Berlusconi tightened anti-terrorism controls across the country after Gaddafi directly threatened Italy for its part in the NATO offensive.

The U.S. Embassy was also attacked by what one U.S. official called an "organized mob," along with the British, French and Qatari embassies, British and Italian officials told CNN.

Britain responded to the burning of its embassy by expelling the Libyan ambassador to London, the Daily Mail reports.

And the U.N. announced it was pulling its officials out of Tripoli because of mob rule.

As preparations began early Monday for the funeral of Saif al-Arab in Tripoli, Gaddafi's forces launched a new attack on Libya's third-biggest city, Misurata.

Overnight fighting around the rebel-held city killed at least six people, medics said, NewsCore reported. At least four or five tanks, which had been concealed at the government-held airport to avoid NATO air strikes, were engaged in the offensive, a rebel official said.

The apparent killing of the youngest of the Gaddafi’s six sons, 29-year-old Ferrari-driving playboy Saif al-Arab, and three of the dictator's grandchildren has been a propaganda coup for Gaddafi's regime, lending support to his claim that the NATO forces are over-stepping their legal mandate. Gaddafi and his wife were reputedly also inside the building and were said to have escaped unharmed.

"The leader himself is in good health," said Moussa Ibrahim, Gaddafi's spokesman, according to the Daily Mail. "What we have now is the law of the jungle. This was a direct operation to assassinate the leader of this country."

But there is growing skepticism in the country as to whether anyone had actually died in the air strike, according to the Daily Mail.

As state TV showed four bodies draped in flags — without showing their faces — Abdul Raman Busi, spokesman for the National Transitional Council in rebel-held Benghazi, reportedly said: "We are not buying it. We don’t believe either the son or the grandchildren were killed, or that Gaddafi was anywhere near the building. We believe he was in one of his underground bunkers. Until we see proper video evidence of the bodies, we are not going to believe anything. He has been lying to us for decades – why should we believe anything he says now? It’s sick propaganda."

China, meanwhile, joined Russia in expressing concern over reports of civilians killed by NATO air strikes, and the apparent targeting of Gaddafi's family, with Beijing saying it disapproved of any act beyond the authorization of the U.N. Security Council.

"The Chinese side has noticed reports that Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Arab, and others were killed in the raids," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu, Xinhua reports. "We are concerned about the deaths and injuries of civilians caused by the escalating conflict in Libya."

Russia for its part had expressed "serious doubts" that the West was not targeting Gaddafi and his family.

But the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, insisted Sunday that individuals were not being targeted, and that U.N. Security Council resolutions permitted attacks on any building being used to "command and control" attacks on civilians.

"The targeting policy of NATO and the alliance is absolutely clear," he told the BBC. "It is in line with UN Resolution 1973 and it is about preventing a loss of civilian life by targeting Gaddafi’s war-making machine. That is obviously tanks and guns and rocket launchers, but also command and control as well."

On Sunday, Gaddafi said on state TV that a war had begun between Italy and Libya. "My friend Silvio Berlusconi committed a crime by permitting the Italian bombings. This is an attempt for a new Italian colonialism.. War must now move to Italian territory — that is what Libyans want, and I cannot oppose them."