Libya's Muammar Gadafy has appeared on state television saying he has no intention of stepping down or of "giving up like other leaders have".
"I am not going to leave this land. I am going to die here. I am going to die here as a martyr," he said. "Libya is a tree and we have watered this tree with our blood. We will take shelter here and not leave.
"Muammar Gadafy is the leader of the revolution, I am not a president to step down...This is my country. Muammar is not a president to leave his post, Muammar is leader of the revolution until the end of time."
In a fiery but rambling address, apparently made in front of a building bombed by United States' war planes in 1986, he blamed the unrest on youths and called the protesters "rats and mercenaries" who wanted to turn Libya into an Islamic state.
Pounding his fists on a podium, Col Gadafy called on people to take to the streets tomorrow in a show of support for him.
Despite numerous reports from human rights groups and witnesses of widespread bloodshed, he said he had not yet used force against his opponents but would do so if necessary. The image of his country before the rest of the world was being distorted by foreigners, he said. He accused other world leaders of "conspiring against Libya" and said he had ordered his army and police to "crush the uprising".
Meanwhile, rebel soldiers said the eastern region of Libya had broken free from Col Gadafy, who witnesses said was using tanks, warplanes and mercenaries to fight the growing uprising against his rule.
Sporadic blasts could be heard in the eastern city of Tobruk, the latest sign that the colonel’s 41-year grip on the oil and gas exporting nation was weakening. "All the eastern regions are out of Gadafy's control now ... The people and the army are hand-in-hand here," said former army major Hany Saad Marjaa.
Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch, citing hospital sources, said today at least 62 people have been killed in clashes in the Libyan capital Tripoli since Sunday. It says up to 300 people have been killed so far. Opposition groups put the figure much higher but independent verification is impossible.
The UN refugee agency today urged to Libya's neighbours to grant refuge to those fleeing the unrest, which was triggered by decades of repression and popular revolts that toppled leaders in Tunisia and Egypt.
Demonstrations have spread to Tripoli from the second city Benghazi, cradle of the revolt that has engulfed a number of towns and which residents say is now in the hands of protestors.
In Tripoli, residents said there was no visible security force presence on the streets. The only police present were directing traffic, they said, the day after reports that warplanes had bombed portions of the capital and mercenaries had shot civilians.
Libya's defence ministry claimed today the violence is the work of gangs of delinquent youths manipulated by foreign forces including al-Qaeda. "With regard to this phenomenon that is terrorising citizens, halting commerce, frightening merchants and consumers, and threatens to cut civilian services such as health and education, some youths and adults obtained weapons by robbing army storehouses," the statement read out on Libyan state television said. "They are criminals. The ... (military command) was given the task of supporting public security forces with military forces in order to purge the country of these terrorist gangs."
Col Gadafy's son Saif vowed on Sunday his father would keep fighting "until the last man standing" and the Libyan leader appeared on television after days of seclusion to dismiss reports he had fled to Venezuela, ruled by his friend President Hugo Chavez.
"I want to show that I'm in Tripoli and not in Venezuela. Do not believe the channels belonging to stray dogs," said Col Gadafy, who has ruled Libya with a mixture of populism and tight control since taking power in a military coup in 1969.
As the crisis intensified across the country, cracks appeared among Gadafy supporters. The justice minister resigned in protest and a group of army officers urged soldiers to "join the people". Two pilots flew their warplanes to nearby Malta.
The violence has triggered a revolt by Libya's diplomats. The country's ambassador to the US today said he no longer represents the "dictatorship" and called on Col Gadafy to step down. "I resign from serving the current dictatorship regime. But I will never resign from serving our people until their voices reach the whole world, until their goals are achieved," Ali Aujali said in an interview on ABC television's Good Morning America. "I am calling for him to go and leave our people alone."
The country's ambassador to India, Ali al-Essawi has already resigned, claiming that African mercenaries had been recruited to help put down protests. "The fall of Gadafy is the imperative of the people in streets," he said.
World powers have condemned the use of force against protesters, with UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon accusing Libya of firing on civilians from warplanes and helicopters. “This must stop immediately," said Mr Ban, adding he had spoken to Col Gadafy and urged him to halt attacks on protesters.
The UN Security Council held closed-door discussions today on the crisis in Libya, with Western envoys and Libya's own delegation calling for action..
After hastily arranged informal consultations, diplomats said the council would return to the issue later in the day to consider a statement expected to demand a halt to the violence in the North African oil-producing country.
The council met at the request of Libyan Deputy Ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi, who along with most other staff at Libya's UN mission announced yesterday they were no longer working for Col Gadafy and represented the country's people. The United States and Europe have demanded a halt to the killing of protesters.
The revolt in Opec member Libya has driven oil prices sharply higher, with US crude for April delivery rising at one stage to almost $99, around a two-and-a-half-year high.
Flows from marine oil terminals in Libya were halted today and the energy supply situation in the north African country is causing concern, an Italian government source said. "The situation is worrying. This morning the oil terminals were blocked in Libya," the source said. Libya supplies 25 per cent of Italy's crude oil.
Shell said it was pulling out its expatriate staff from Libya temporarily because of the unrest.
Reuters