http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/02/23/3146123.htm



Raging Gaddafi orders forces to 'capture the rats'

By Middle East correspondent Anne Barker, wires

Updated 6 hours 45 minutes ago
Moamar Gaddafi addresses the country


Libya's hardline leader Moamar Gaddafi has defiantly declared he will not be stepping down and has threatened to execute those he sees as enemies of the country.

Mr Gaddafi has given his first real speech since anti-government protests began sweeping across Libya last week, ordering his forces to crush the uprising that has rocked his 41-year rule.

In a rambling and at times angry address that lasted for more than an hour, the embattled leader denounced the protests as serving the devil, described the demonstrators as cockroaches, and said they were enemies of Libya who deserve to die.

Dressed in a matching light-brown robe, scarf and turban, and wearing glasses, Mr Gaddafi told the public to "capture the rats," apparently referring to anti-regime demonstrators.

He defended his own role as a revolutionary who he said had brought glory to Libya.

Mr Gaddafi said that with no official position from which to resign, he would remain the head of the revolution until he dies.

He said he would die as a martyr in the land of his ancestors and fight to the "last drop" of his blood.

The latest pictures from Libya show protests continuing in the capital Tripoli, and media reports suggest anti-government groups now have control of key cities outside the capital.

Ordering protesters to surrender their weapons immediately, saying there would be a "slaughter" otherwise, he threatened to purge Libya "house by house" and "inch by inch."

He called on the population to take to the streets on Wednesday in a show of support for his regime.

'This is my country'

In a live, unscripted speech, the 68-year-old former army colonel shouted "This is my country, my country".

Standing against the backdrop of his house, part of which has been deliberately left unrepaired since it was bombed by US warplanes in 1986, he maintained "the Libyan people are with me".

Mr Gaddafi also said that despite widespread reports that army, police and militias had killed unarmed demonstrators indiscriminately over the past week, "we have not yet used force."

However, he said "if the situation worsens we will use it in line with international law and Libya's constitution."

He denied that the victims of fighting that had swept the country were young people.

"Those killed were from the police and the army; they were not youths," he said, adding that there was a "small sick group" that "gives drugs to these youths."

'Punished by death'

Reading from the penal code, he said "any Libyan who carries arms against Libyans will be punished by death."

The long-serving dictator said protesters who had apparently seized control of some cities and towns deserved to be punished in line with Libyan laws "because they took up arms against the nation."

"Surrender the weapons, free the prisoners ... and restore normal life to ports and airports," he said.

"No-one in his right might can allow the country to be torn apart and to fall into the hands of madmen."

Mr Gaddafi threatened tough action in line with what he said had been done against insurgents in Moscow and Iraq and freedom protesters in Beijing.

"The Russian president brought tanks and bombed the Duma with the MPs inside until they snuffed the rats out, and the West did not object but told him 'you are acting in accordance with the law'.

"Students in Beijing protested for days near a Coca Cola sign ... Then the tanks came and crushed them."

Mr Gaddafi ended his speech by saying: "It is high time for the march, for working, for victory. There is no going back, only forward, forward, forward.

"Revolution. Revolution. Revolution" were his last words before he banged his fist on a table in front of him and walked away, as several loyalists kissed his hand.

This morning, Libya's ambassador to the US, Ali Suleiman Ajuli, announced on US television that he no longer worked for Gaddafi.

"I am calling for him to go and leave our people alone," he said.

"Tripoli is now under gunfire, Tripoli is burning. All the eastern part of Libya is under the control of the people now, but Tripoli and some cities in the western part are still under the control of the regime."

Human rights groups put the death toll from the week-long unrest at nearly 300.

The United Nations Security Council has begun emergency talks on Libya behind closed doors, and the UN Human Rights Commissioner wants an investigation into what she says are possible crimes against humanity.

German chancellor Angela Merkel described Mr Gaddafi's televised address as "very scary" and said Berlin would consider sanctions unless he halted a crackdown on protesters.

"We are calling on the Libyan authorities to stop the violence against their own people," Ms Merkel told reporters at a joint press conference with Greek prime minister George Papandreou.

The Arab League has barred Libya from its meetings and threatened to suspend its membership until Tripoli responds to the demands of the protesters.

A meeting in March would also decide whether Libya was "fulfilling its commitment to the Arab League charter regarding membership," it said, after a crisis meeting of permanent representatives in Cairo.

The 22-member body said "Arab people's ambitions for freedom, democratic reforms, development and justice are legitimate and must be respected."

- ABC/AFP