Defiant Gaddafi pledges victory

Col Gaddafi appeared on Libyan TV making a defiant address to supporters

The Libyan leader, Col Muammar Gaddafi, has appeared at a site in Tripoli that was recently attacked by the Western coalition and told his followers: "We will be victorious in the end."

In a brief speech at the Bab al-Aziziya compound, targeted on Sunday, he said "all Islamic armies" should join him.
Forces loyal to Col Gaddafi are engaged in fierce fighting with rebels.
The coalition is enforcing a UN Security Council resolution to protect civilians and set up a no-fly zone.
Major partners in the alliance have been thrashing out a new command structure that will tone down US leadership.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said people close to Col Gaddafi are making contact with other states to explore options for the future.
"We've heard about other people close to him reaching out to people that they know around the world - Africa, the Middle East, Europe, North America, beyond - saying what do we do? How do we get out of this? What happens next?" she told ABC News.
"I'm not aware that he personally has reached out, but I do know that people allegedly on his behalf have been reaching out."
'Crusader countries' Col Gaddafi made a speech that lasted about three minutes and was carried on state television.
He said there was a "new crusader battle launched by crusader countries on Islam".

The BBC's Allan Little visited the scene of a coalition strike in Tripoli

"Long live Islam everywhere. All Islamic armies must take part in the battle, all free [people] must take party in the battle.... We will be victorious in the end."
Col Gaddafi denounced the bombing campaign, saying: "We shall not surrender and we shall not fear passers by. We jeer at their missiles. These are passing missiles."
"In the short term, we will beat them. In the long term, we will beat them."
"The most powerful air defence, the most powerful air defence is the people. Here are the people. Gaddafi is in the middle of the people. This is the air defence," he added.
He concluded his address by saying: "I do not fear storms that sweep the horizon, nor do I fear the planes that throw black destruction. I am resistant, my house is here in my tent... I am the rightful owner, and the creator of tomorrow. I, I am here! I am here! I am here!"
His troops continue to be engaged in fierce fighting with the rebels.
Misrata - the last rebel-held city in western Libya - is one of the bloodiest battlegrounds.
One doctor there told Associated Press: "The number of dead are too many for our hospital to handle."
A resident of the city told Reuters: "The situation here is very bad. Tanks started shelling the town this morning."
As in Misrata, neither of the warring sides appears strong enough to hold the eastern city of Ajdabiya.

The BBC's Ian Pannell, in eastern Libya, says the rebels there have divergent strategies - some envision pushing west, perhaps even as far as Tripoli, while others want to just take Ajdabiya and then consolidate their hold on the east, hoping Libyans in other cities will rise up and liberate themselves.
Fighting was also reported on Tuesday in Zintan, near the Tunisian border, and in Yafran, 130km south-west of Tripoli. Witnesses in the towns reported 10 deaths in each.
Late on Tuesday, renewed explosions and anti-aircraft fire were heard in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, as it appeared allied forces were conducting another night of strikes.
Monday night's strikes included a port area of Tripoli and a naval base at Bussetta, about 10km (six miles) east of the capital.
Also on Monday, two US airmen were rescued after ejecting from their F-15E Eagle warplane just before it crashed during allied operations in eastern Libya.
The plane appeared to suffer mechanical failure near the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.
There were reports six villagers were shot and hurt in the US rescue effort.
'No doubt' Meanwhile US President Barack Obama, UK Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy spoke by telephone on Tuesday after Nato talks in Brussels had failed to secure an agreement on how to proceed on a new command structure.
The US has taken a leading role so far, but Mr Obama said on a visit to El Salvador: "I have absolutely no doubt that we will be able to transfer the control of this operation to an international coalition."
The US Africa Command, based in Germany, and joint task force commander US Adm Samuel Locklear have effectively been in control.

  

After the talks between the leaders, Mr Sarkozy's office said there was agreement "on how Nato's command structure will be used to support the coalition", without providing further details on the key question of whether Nato would take over enforcement of the no-fly zone.

There have been differences in Nato on a command structure

The White House and Mr Cameron simply said they had agreed that Nato should play a key role in commanding the campaign.
The BBC's Chris Morris in Brussels said the earlier discussions there had failed to reach an agreement on the command-and-control system, but that there were indications that a form of words could be agreed that would allow Nato's structures to take part.
France had expressed fears that a Nato lead would not please the Arab world.
Italy said it could withdraw its bases without a co-ordinated Nato structure and Norway said its jets would not take part in the action as long as it was unclear who was in overall command.
Turkey wanted limits on Nato involvement and said the air strikes had already gone beyond the UN resolution.
However, one US official told Reuters news agency Turkish concerns had been eased.
"I do believe the Turks have largely resolved the questions they had before," the official said.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe has now proposed a new body bringing together foreign ministers of participating states and the Arab League to act as a political overseer.
One matter Nato did resolve on Tuesday was how to enforce a UN arms embargo on Libya. It will use aircraft and ships in the Mediterranean to "conduct operations to monitor, report and, if needed, interdict vessels suspected of carrying illegal arms or mercenaries".

 source: BBC

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