Gadaffi Speech -' We Will Be Victorious'

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.

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". "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!"

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."

Western warplanes have flown more than 300 sorties over Libya and more than 162 Tomahawk cruise missiles have been fired, but Col Gaddafi's troops continue to be engaged in fierce fighting with rebels.
Misrata - the last rebel-held city in western Libya - is one of the bloodiest battlegrounds. It has been under siege for weeks, and the situation is becoming increasingly desperate with supplies of food, water and medicine running low. "The situation in the local hospital is disastrous," a doctor said. "The doctors and medical teams are exhausted beyond human physical ability and some of them cannot reach the hospital because of tanks and snipers." A resident said there is heavy bombardment  from government forces every day. "The day starts with heavy shelling, and artillery fire through the city centre, and the residential areas," he said.  "The tanks will then pave the way for snipers to climb on the top of tall buildings in the city centre, and provide a good cover for the artillery, and for the tanks to enter, or to try to enter into the city centre."

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. Overnight, a series of explosions were heard in the Libyan capital. It was not known if the coalition was carrying out more air and missile 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.

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."