Muammar Gaddafi promise to fight on, advise cleansing of rats

Tripoli: Visibly angry, and after some shuffling he notes, the Libyan dictator vowed that he would not leave the country and will die here, as a martyr.

"I am a revolutionary and I will fight on," he said on state television in a long, rambling speech.

He appealed to all the Libyan people to join him to rein in the young people who took pills hallucinating and cause problems.

He jabbed his finger at the media, including the Arab media and labeled them "rats" who are trying to portray the poor people of Libya. "The Arab media betrays you," he said and added: "Libya is the leading continent, the victory today."

In one of the most audacious moments of his speech he said: "I will not leave the country I will die as a martyr in the end." He said if he were president, he would simply resign, but "I'm not the president," he said.

Gadhafi was quoted as revolutionary powers. "We Libyans resisted ... The United States and Britain in the past, we will not give up," said Gaddafi.

Mr Gaddafi also raised the specter of civil war and occupation by foreign powers, if the unrest in the Middle East country continued.

Meanwhile, the rebel soldiers said the eastern region of Libya, Muammar al-Qaddafi broke out, which witnesses said had been using tanks, warplanes and mercenaries to fight a growing rebellion against his rule.

Sporadic explosions were heard in the eastern city of Tobruk, Reuters correspondent there said, a sign that the 41-year grip Mr Gaddafi on oil and gas exporting nation is getting weaker.

"All the eastern regions of control Gaddafi now ... The people and the army together here," said Chief Haney now former Army Saad Marjaa.

UN Agency for Refugees called on Libya's neighbors to provide safe haven to those fleeing unrest, which was caused by decades of repression and popular uprisings that toppled leaders in Tunisia and Egypt.