Libyan Dictator Gaddafi Pledges to Defeat NATO
World | June 17, 2011, Friday // 21:04| viewsLibyan rebel fires a machine gun at forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, at Ad Dafiniyah, west of Misrata, Libya, 06 June 2011. EPA/BGNES
Libya's dictator Muammar Gaddafi has promised a defeat for NATO, which has been bombing his regime for weeks in Operation Odyssey Dawn, supporting the rebels in control of the eastern part of the country.
In a audio tape broadcast by the Lybian state TV late on Friday, Gaddafi warns that NATO will be beaten in Libya, and that his regime will stay intact.
"They will be defeated. NATO will be defeated by force. We are determined not to change anything in our country unless we act on our own will," the Libyan dictator stated.
He further accuses the NATO countries of being "cowardly" for not daring to launch a land operation, and for relying solely on air strikes.
Gaddafi went as far as calling upon the population of Libya to prepare to "liberate" their own country.
Meanwhile, earlier on Friday, Gaddafi's forces have defied NATO warnings, launching rocket strikes and infantry attacks on the city of Misrata killing civilians and rebels for the first time since the rebel troops pushed out the regime forces in the city on May 12.
The attacks is interpreted in the West as an act of defiance from the Gaddafi regime, three days after NATO dropped leaflets over regime lines featuring pictures of an Apache helicopter and warning of attacks if civilian areas were shelled.
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