US brands Muammar Gaddafi 'Delusional' After Interview

 Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is "delusional" and "unfit to lead", the US ambassador to the UN has said.
Susan Rice was speaking after the embattled Colonel Gaddafi was interviewed by international journalists.
Ms Rice said the fact he was laughing at questions while "slaughtering his own people" showed that he was disconnected from reality.  In the interview, Col Gaddafi said he was loved by all his people and denied there had been any protests in Tripoli.

He was answering questions in the capital Tripoli from BBC Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen, US TV network ABC, and the UK's Sunday Times newspaper.
He accused Western countries of abandoning Libya and said that they had no morals and wanted to colonise the country. When asked whether he would resign, he said he could not step down as he did not have an official position - and insisted that the power in the country was with the people. Col Gaddafi challenged those, including UK Prime Minister David Cameron, who have accused him of having money abroad, to produce evidence. He said he would "put two fingers in their eye".

Col Gaddafi said true Libyans had not demonstrated but those who had come on to the streets were under the influence of drugs supplied by Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network. He said those people had seized weapons and that his supporters were under orders not to shoot back. World foreign ministers earlier condemned attacks on Libyan civilians and the European Union imposed sanctions including an arms embargo, asset freeze and travel ban on Col Gaddafi and his close entourage.

Foreign ministers at a UN human rights conference in Geneva have called for Col Gaddafi to go. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton accused Col Gaddafi and his followers of using "mercenaries and thugs" to attack unarmed civilians, and of executing soldiers who refused to turn their guns on fellow citizens.
"It is time for Gaddafi to go, now, without further violence or delay," she said. Mrs Clinton also said that although US naval vessels were being repositioned near Libya there was no military action pending.
When asked whether the US would back Col Gaddafi going into exile, Mrs Clinton said: "If violence could be ended by his leaving... it might be a good step but we believe accountability must be obtained for what he has done." The US Treasury said it had blocked $30bn  in Libyan assets - the largest sum it has ever frozen.

 President Obama met UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the White House on Monday and both expressed concern at the rising violence and called for a legitimately elected president. Mr Ban said of Col Gaddafi: "He lost legitimacy when he declared war on his people." Although protesters have secured towns in the east, Col Gaddafi shows no signs of giving up in and around Tripoli.
In Tajoura, a suburb of the capital, about 400 people protested against him on Monday, chanting: "The blood of martyrs won't go to waste." Gaddafi supporters reportedly tried to break up the protest by firing into the air. Reporters say there have been long queues at banks in the capital as people tried to collect the 500 dinars ($410) promised to all families by the government in an attempt to quell the unrest.

There has been fighting in the coastal town of Misrata, 200km (125 miles) east of Tripoli, with Col Gaddafi's opponents repelling a government counter-attack. Anti-government forces still control Zawiya, 50km west of Tripoli. Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim said the authorities would attempt to talk to protesters in the east, but added: "If all attempts and efforts for dialogue... are exhausted, a very well guided force will be used in accordance with international rules."

When people in Benghazi hear Colonel Gaddafi accuse them of being on drugs or supporting al-Qaeda, they just laugh. Col Gaddafi himself has violently put down uprisings here in past years and also deliberately weakened his own army because he suspected its loyalty. The Libyan leader does not seem to have too much faith in his own people. The mood in Benghazi is getting more nervous as Col Gaddafi continues to maintain and possibly to expand areas under his control in the south and west of Libya.
There is no co-ordinated military move to send opposition troops on Tripoli, though some smaller groups of volunteers are heading west. With reports of an air raid, and reports that more foreign mercenaries are being flown in by Col Gaddafi, most people here would welcome the imposition of a no-fly zone, though they're divided on whether they want more active foreign military intervention.