Muammar Gaddafi threatened to turn into "hell" the lives of anyone who attacks Libya in line with a UN Security Council resolution passed overnight.

His remarks came in an interview with Portuguese state television, a tape of which AFP has obtained a copy, just hours before the Security Council voted late yesterday to permit "all necessary measures" to establish the no-fly zone, protect civilian areas and impose a ceasefire on his military.

"If the world goes crazy, so will we," the defiant strongman said. "We will respond. We will turn their lives into hell.

"What is this racism, this hatred?" he asked. "What is this madness?"

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