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NATO intensifies strikes on Tripoli as Gaddafi remains adamant
The city of Tripoli was on Wednesday rocked with loud explosions as NATO kept up its heaviest bombing of the Libyan capital since air strikes began in March, but Muammar Gaddafi vowed to fight to the end.
Attacks continued through Tuesday night into Wednesday morning with warplanes hitting the city several times an hour.
Libyan government reacts
Gaddafi said planes were overhead and bombs were falling around him as NATO struck on his Bab al-Aziziya compound.
"We only have one choice: we will stay in our land dead or alive," he said in a fiery audio address on state television.
Government spokesman, Moussa Ibrahim, told reporters that at least 31 people were killed in 60 strikes on Tripoli.
"How could the world sleep tonight knowing that armies of such evil are willingly and knowingly attacking a peaceful capital with 60 rockets and killing people ... while there is a way out of this. To sit down, talk and negotiate," Ibrahim said
Pressurised to quit
A British defence official said several operations carried out by fighter aircraft had targeted Gaddafi's secret police headquarters and a military installation on Tripoli's south western outskirts.
US President, Barack Obama said in Washington that there was significant progress in the operation and stressed that it was "just a matter of time before Gaddafi goes".
Support for rebels
Diplomatic overtures were being made to the rebels by world powers, including Russia and China, despite their misgivings about interference in Libya's affairs.
A Russian special envoy for Africa said in the rebel capital of Benghazi on Tuesday that Gaddafi could no longer represent Libya and that Russia was ready to help in any way possible.
In Beijing, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said an Egypt-based Chinese diplomat had visited Benghazi for talks with the rebel-led National Transitional Council.
The Libya contact group of Western and Arab countries agreed in May to provide millions of dollars in non-military aid to help the rebels keep services and the economy running.
They meet on Thursday in the United Arab Emirates to discuss rebel plans and financing for them.
Rebels broke siege
Rebels control the east of Libya, the western city of Misrata and the range of mountains near the border with Tunisia.
The rebels have been unable to advance into the capital against Gaddafi's better-equipped fighters.
Gaddafi's forces pulled back to high ground in the Western Mountains outside Yafran, 130 km (80 miles) southwest of Tripoli.
However, on Monday, the rebels broke a long government siege of the town.
A rebel commander in Zintan, in the same region, said Gaddafi's forces were massing on Tuesday in their biggest numbers in the area since the start of the conflict.
Gaddafi’s son reacts
Al-Saedi Gaddafi, one of Gaddafi's sons, in a state television broadcast said that the fighting in Libya was an attempt by Islamists to seize power.
"(Muslim) Brotherhood members, Jihadists and Takfiris (other Islamist fundamentalists) should not dream to return to Libya to take charge of it," he said.
"This is a battle of principles. The leader (Muammar Gaddafi) and the Libyan people have nothing to do with it," he stressed.
REUTERS/Shakira
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