Gaddafi calls on Libyans to march on Tripoli

People hold a rally to support Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in Moscow August 24, 2011.Photo: REUTERS 

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi called on his supporters to march on Tripoli and "purify" the capital of rebels, who he denounced as "rats, crusaders and unbelievers".

In a short audio broadcast on loyalist TV channels on Thursday, Gaddafi sounded more defiant than in recent speeches. He called on all of Libya's tribes to rally and expel what he called foreign agents from the country.

"Libya is for the Libyan people and not for the agents, not for imperialism, not for France, not for Sarkozy, not for Italy," he said. "Tripoli is for you, not for those who rely on NATO."

Rebels overran Tripoli this week and burst into Gaddafi's compound, but his whereabouts remain unknown.

The rebel National Transitional Council has offered a reward for Gaddafi's capture and the International Criminal Court has charged him with crimes against humanity.

In a nod to a speech he made early in the uprising against his 41-year rule, Gaddafi urged Libya's youth and tribal leaders to take control of their neighbourhoods from the rebels and then march on the capital.

"Street by street, alleyway by alleyway, house by house," said Gaddafi. "The tribes that are outside of Tripoli must march on Tripoli. Each tribe must control its area and stop the enemy setting its foot on this pure land."

"O sheikhs of the mosques, O scholars, incite the people to jihad. Go out as their leaders."

"Do not leave Tripoli to those rats, kill them, defeat them quickly. You are the crushing majority... There will be no safe place for the enemies...

"The enemy is delusional, NATO is retreating. It cannot go on forever in the air. NATO be damned," he shouted. "We will defeat them with determination, through will, commitment to freedom, sovereignty, dignity and glory. Never be afraid of them, only fear God, you are closer to God than them."