Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in a rambling speech insisted today that the dignity and freedom of the Libyan people were being challenged by the whole world, but the Libyan people would triumph.

He also inisted that his country did not need food aid or medicines and those who called for such help were betraying the country.

In a speech of some two hours broadcast on Libyan state TV he insisted that the current strife was fomented by Al Qaeda operatives known to the United States. He said the UN Security Council had taken its decisions against Libya on the basis of mistaken mass media reports, and not on the basis of facts.

He said security officers were being forced to defect at gunpoint and people were being attacked at random, but the Libyan authorities were not retaliating in order to save lives. However, arms depots were being bombed so that the weapons would not fall into the hands of terrorists.

Gaddafi also called on the international community to send fact-finding missions and promised that he and the Libyan people would fight to the last drop of blood.

His speech was given indoors at a celebration to mark the 34th anniversary 'of the people assuming power'.

The crowd occasionally interrupted his address to chant slogans in his support.

Col Gaddafi said he wanted to congratulate the people on the establishment of the people's authority in 1977.

On that day, he said, he handed over his powers to the people's committees and he had not exercised any political or administrative authority.

The revolution, he said, had been carried out to liberate the territory and oilfields from the US and British forces and hand them to the people.

The people were free to exercise their authority in the manner they saw fit.

'REPORTS ABOUT ME MADE BE LAUGH'

He said he had laughed with surprise about recent reports about him. He led the revolution and then handed power to the people. Since then he was only a reference, a symbol.

He was challenging anyone, he said, who could claim that he was exercising power.

Col Gaddafi then went on to explain how the Jamahariya system works and said this had to be explained to the world.

Referring to the protests of the past few days, he said they had followed a dispute involving the lawyers (in Benghazi). He had not taken decisions about it because he was not the authority, he said. When the protests broke out, he said he was told that 'there was a challenge' and it was coming from the foreign mass media. The people, he said, felt they had been stabbed to their dignity and power.

'MILLIONS ARE SUPPORTING ME AND READY TO DIE'

He said millions were supporting him and ready to die for him because of this challenge from foreign forces. (applause and chanting of 'we stand by God and will never abandon our leader')

Col Gaddafi said such chants surprised him. He did not follow satellite TV stations because they were provocations, a nuisance and a waste of time.

The world, he said, was challenging the achievements of the Gaddafi revolution, the liberation and freedom of Libyan territories, but the Libyan people were standing with heads held high. The people would not stand for humiliation and insults.

Referring to himself, Col Gaddafi said Muammar Gaddafi had brought Italy to its knees and forced it to apologise for its colonialism. Italy was being forced to pay compensation for its colonialism.

Huge demonstrations had been held supporting him, he said, but none had been carried by the international media. The Libyan people, he insisted, were defying the world and backing their leader.

He insisted he had no post to surrender, and the Libyan people knew it was their freedom and prosperity that was being attacked.

AL QAEDA CELLS FOMENTING THE TROUBLE

He again blamed small cells of Al Qaeda for starting the current trouble. The CIA, he said, knew them by name and had informed the Libyan authorities. They were apprehended and then released, but now they were breaking their promises to Libya and were causing trouble.

These small formerly dormant cells had come alive, attacking police stations and stealing weapons at Al Baida.

Only between 150 and 200 had been killed, Col Gaddafi said, but the international media was speaking of thousands of deaths.

The security personnel had not launched any attacks but had themselves come under assault. He had told the security forces not to take up arms but to go home. Ordinary people fled and had dispersed.

The same infection had spread to Benghazi. An army battalion came under fire, and he also told the army unit to abandon the position and go home, to avoid bloodshed. The operatives then took control of the Benghazi streets and his supporters were not able to show their support to him. People were being executed in Al Qaeda Al Zarqawi style.

High ranking officers had also been forced to defect an gunpoint.

This was an unprecedented incident and the people were in a panic, Col Gaddafi said.

He urged his listeners not to believe outside media reports.

He said he had decided that any weapons depots had to be destroyed so that weapons would not fall into the hands of the terrorists. People defending their neighbourhoods and expressing their anger were also assaulted.

Al Qaeda operatives did not march in demonstrations and protests, Col Gaddafi said. It was a total lie that demonstrations had been held, in any place. The operatives had assaulted the security forces, taken their weapons and shot at them.

Nothing had happened except these incidents, but the whole world was being told differently. The operatives were now shooting at random, killing people, raping women and seeking refuse in mosques. Prisoners had been let out and they were siding with the terrorists.

MASS MEDIA DISTORTIONS

He said the international community was being urged to send fact-finding committees. They would find that the security forces were killed while defending their own positions. The authorities had not fired a single bullet.

To arm militias to defend themselves was legitimate, he said, but no counter-assaults had been ordered. The opposing forces were only besieged.

"We will fight to the last plot of blood to defend the Libyan territory, inch by inch," Col Gaddafi said to more chanting of support.

Referring to the evacuation of workers, Mr Gaddafi said this had caused a drop in oil production, as (his son) Saif had warned would happen. Diplomats were also being withdrawn, which was proof that there were no peaceful demonstrations in Libya. Had the demonstrations in Benghazi and Derna been peaceful, this would not have happened. This showed that there were armed gangs launching attacks.

'LIBYA HAS NOT FALLEN, IT IS THEM WHO WILL FALL'

"Libya has not fallen, it is them who will fall," Col Gaddafi said, adding that all those who had launched the attacks would be investigated and punished.

He asked how the Security Council could decide resolutions on the basis of media reports, rather than proper facts. What was happening in Libya was domestic and not international, he said.

e was sure the Council would eventually agree that it had taken the wrong decision. Should that not be the case, all states would have lost their sovereignty and been subject to the Council. He said the members of the Security Council were friendly states, but they could not stand up for Libya because the Libyan representative at the council had escaped.

Al Qaeda, he said, had no demands, they did not negotiate. They only perpetrated murder. Its operatives, including a former Guantanamo Bay inmate, were seeking to recruit young people and brainwashing them.

The people, he said, should not give an excuse for the Americans and the other colonialists to set foot on Libya. Thousands of people would die if America or Nato forces set foot in Libya.

Some wanted to set up an Islamic republic in Derna, like the Vatican in Italy. Let them. Then one would see what would happen to the people, to the women, Col Gaddafi said.

The people should remain free, newspapers should be free in the hands of the people, not the hands of armed groups.

'I HAVE NO ASSETS ABROAD'

Referring to recent reports that his assets abroad were being frozen Gaddafi told the applauding crowd that he had no assets. "My assets are my people. I don't take pride in keeping assets of American dollars... My salary is only 465 dinars and the assets they are referring to belong to the Libyan people."

"We cannot sacrifice our own glory for the sake of a bunch of dollars."

Gaddafi referred to footage of his property in Al Baida.

"They showed the property as if it was my own palace. It was a gift from the great Libyan people. They granted me a residence in each Libyan city. It is you who built this normal place of residence. Let's be clear on that, may God Bless you," he said.

Col Gaddafi said his country did not need anybody's help. It had enough food and medicines. But those distributing the food and medicines were being attacked. The oil fields were safe and secure but the workers had been attacked and left in fear.

There were no demonstrations in the heart of the desert, where the oil workers were, he said. This, again, was the work of armed gangs.

His speech was made as international media reported an offensive by Gaddafi forces against a number of rebel-held towns. Sources said some towns had been retaken while in other areas, the Gaddafi forces were repulsed.

Live broadcast on

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