Libya's fugitive leader Muammar Gadafy thinks he can return to power when Nato ends its air campaign, his former right-hand man told Al Jazeera television.
"Gadafy is delusional because he thinks he can disappear in Libya and, when Nato leaves, he believes he can gather his supporters," said Abdel Salam Jalloud, who defected to Libya's rebels before they overran most of the capital yesterday.
Mr Jalloud, who was speaking in an excerpt from an interview to be aired on the satellite news channel, was a member of the junta that staged the 1969 coup that brought Col Gadafy to power.
He is believed to have fallen out of favour with the veteran leader several years ago.Mr Jalloud said he thought Col Gadafy was still in Tripoli.
"The rebels must open the roads. After they open the roads, he may dress in woman's clothes and leave Tripoli for the Algerian border or Chad. He is drunk with power," he said.
However, the United States believes that Col Gadafy is still in Libya, Pentagon spokesman Colonel Dave Lapan said today.
Libya's new masters have announced a million-dollar bounty for the Col Gadafy, who urged his men to carry on a battle that kept the capital Tripoli in a state of fear.