Take back streets, Gaddafi tells his followers

Shouting and pounding his first in a furious speech on state TV, Colonel Gaddafi, swathed in brown robes and turban, spoke from a podium set up in the entrance of a bombed out building that appeared to be his Tripoli residence hit by US air strikes in the 1980s and left unrepaired as a monument of defiance.

He declared himself “a warrior” and proclaimed, “Libya wants glory, Libya wants to be at the pinnacle, at the pinnacle of the world.

“I am a fighter, a revolutionary from tents ... I will die as a martyr at the end.”

The speech, which appeared to have been taped earlier, was aired on a screen to hundreds of supporters massed in Tripoli’s central Green Square. At times the camera panned out to show a towering gold-coloured monument in front of the building, showing a fist crushing a fighter jet bearing an American flag.

“I have not yet ordered the use of force, not yet ordered one bullet to be fired ... when I do, everything will burn,” he said.

He called on supporters to take to the streets to attack protesters. “You men and women who love Gaddafi ...get out of your homes and fill the streets,” he said. “Leave your homes and attack them in their lairs ... Starting tomorrow the cordons will be lifted, go out and fight them.”

“From tonight to tomorrow, all the young men should form local committees for popular security,” he said, telling them to wear a green armband to identify themselves. “The Libyan people and the popular revolution will control Libya.”

Tripoli has been torn apart by two nights of bloodshed as pro-Gaddafi militiamen cracked down on protesters. The eruption of turmoil in the capital escalates a week of protests and bloody clashes in Libya’s eastern cities that have shattered Gaddafi’s nearly 42-year grip on the nation and left at least 250 people dead. In response, Gaddafi’s security forces have unleashed the bloodiest crackdown of any Arab country against the wave of protests sweeping the region, which has already toppled the leaders of Egypt and Tunisia.

“Forward, forward, forward!” Gaddafi barked at his conclusion, pumping both fists in the air as he stormed away from the podium. He was kissed by about a dozen supporters, then he climbed into a golf cart-like vehicle and puttered away.

His call could signal a sharp escalation of bloodshed in the Libyan capital where streets in several districts were yesterday littered with the bodies of dead protesters after a fierce crackdown through the night, as pro-Gaddafi militia shot on sight.

Streets in Tripoli were largely empty during the day, except for residents venturing out to stock up on bread and other basics. Many cities in the east appeared to be under the control of protesters, including some oil-producing regions, as units of Gaddafi’s army defected.

Protesters in the east claimed to hold several oil fields and facilities and said they were protecting them to prevent damage or vandalism.

Oil prices have surged over concerns about supplies as foreign oil companies scramble to get staff out.

The regime has also been hit by a string of defections by ambassadors abroad, including its UN delegation, and a few officials at home. The UN Security Council is holding an emergency meeting about the crisis.

Foreign Secretary William Hague backed calls for a “full and transparent” investigation into reports of attacks on civilians. “The Libyan government is trying to stop the world seeing what is happening in Libya but we will do everything we can to make sure they are held accountable for their actions,” he said.