Libya’s fugitive ex-leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi says he will continue to fight his enemies, in an audio message carried by a loyalist TV channel.
“The Libyan people cannot kneel, cannot surrender, we are not women,” he said in the message on the al-Rai channel.
Anti-Gaddafi forces encircling the city of Sirte have given loyalists an extra week to negotiate their surrender.
Meanwhile, senior diplomats are meeting in Paris for a major international conference on Libya’s future.
The meeting comes on the 42nd anniversary of Col Gaddafi’s emergence as the leader of the coup that overthrew King Idris.
The colonel has not been seen in public for months, and it is not known where he is hiding.
Syria-based al-Rai broadcast an audio message from the colonel lasting about ten minutes.
“People are fighting colonialism,” he said.
“There must be huge sacrifices for the sake of freedom, the traitors will come to an end and Nato now will collapse, and the traitors’ loyalty to Nato will collapse.”
The message ended abruptly and patriotic music faded in. (BBC)