Gadhafi warns his people of swift, violent retribution

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Gadhafi warns his people of swift, violent retribution

By Spencer, The Daily Telegraph

A wild and desperate-looking Colonel Moammar Gadhafi staged a dramatic defence

of his collapsing 41-year rule Tuesday night, appearing on state television to

damn the " rats " conspiring against him and to insist that he would die a martyr

on Libyan soil.

For more than an hour, he hurled insults at the cameras. He said he would defy

America, superpowers, " men with turbans and long beards " and anyone else who

tried to end his revolution.

He said his opponents were trying to plunge Libya into civil war and to turn it

into an Islamic state, or an Afghanistan or a Somalia. Occasionally reading from

his " Green Book " and shaking his forefinger at the camera, he threatened swift,

violent and all-out retribution to those who continued to oppose him. Frequently

raising his voice to a scream, he said he had proved Libya was leader of the

African, Asian and Latin American continents in their fight against imperialism.

He would not leave the country for which he said his grandfather and many others

had given their lives.

" Moammar Gadhafi is the leader of a revolution, " he shrieked. " Moammar Gadhafi

has no official position to resign from. He is the leader of the revolution

forever. This is my country, my country. "

Col Gadhafi made his appearance after a first meeting of the United Nations

Security Council to discuss the crisis in Libya. Some protesters and diplomats

who had defected from his regime were calling for the UN to impose a no-fly zone

to prevent a repeat of the air attacks ordered by the regime on Monday night.

But there was no immediate indication that the UN was likely to move beyond a

condemnation of the killings of innocent protesters - and even that looked

likely to be blocked by Russia and China. Hillary Clinton, the U.S. Secretary of

State, condemned the violence as " completely unacceptable " .

Forces loyal to Col Gadhafi seemed to have control over the capital Tripoli,

with state television earlier showing footage of a pro-regime rally. Residents

were said to be hiding inside their homes after attacks from the air and from

snipers on roofs on Monday night. There were reports of " massacres " in a number

of districts, with Human Rights Watch giving a figure of 62 dead in the city.

Worst hit were those who attended an anti-government march in Tripoli on Monday

afternoon. " Many people were killed by the explosions and bullets, " a

22-year-old student who attended told The Daily Telegraph.

Foreign nationals leaving the country gave dramatic accounts of seeing bodies on

the streets and burning buildings. Residents insisted that many of the attackers

were the African mercenaries Col Gadhafi is said to have hired to defend his

regime to the end. " They carry machineguns and machetes, " one said. " If any of

them are caught they are killed pretty much immediately. "

There were also claims that whites, believed to be Eastern Europeans, were among

the mercenaries. Col Gadhafi has maintained good relations with first the Soviet

Union and its Cold War allies and more recently with Russia.

But most of the east of Libya appeared to be beyond Col Gadhafi's reach. " We

have taken control of Benghazi, " Mouftah Al Areydi, a resident, said. " The youth

are outside cleaning up and we will protect our region. "

Prof Tim Niblock, an expert on Libya at Exeter University, said good sources had

told him that Suleiman Mahmoud al-Obeidi, an eastern army commander, had

defected. Elders of one of the country's most important tribal groups, the

Warfalah, also went over to the opposition, issuing a statement denouncing " the

hideous crimes of Gadhafi and his regime " .

Around the world, diplomats said they were no longer representing the regime,

with ambassadors to the United States, India and Bangladesh and lower-ranking

staff members of other missions all joining in the condemnation of their leader.

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