Gaddafi vows to fight to end amid NATO raids

06-07-2011 • http://english.aljazeera.net/

Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, has vowed to fight to the end in a speech broadcast live on state television, amid one of the fiercest NATO air strikes on Tripoli.

"We only have one choice: we will stay in our land dead or alive," he said in the audio address on Tuesday, calling on his supporters to flock to his Bab al-Aziziya compound in the capital.

"We will not kneel! We will not surrender."

"We are stronger than your missiles, stronger than your planes and the voice of the Libyan people is louder than explosions," he said.

Gaddafi said he was ready to unleash between 250,000 to 500,000 armed Libyans to swarm across the country to cleanse it from "armed gangs", a reference to the rebels controlling parts of the North African country.

"Whether we are martyred, killed or commit suicide, we care about our duty towards history," Gaddafi said, demanding to know why the bombardment was continuing.