Defiant Gaddafi vows to fight on

24 August 2011 Last updated at 02:27 ET

Col Muammar Gaddafi has made a speech vowing death or victory in the fight against “aggression”, after Libyan rebels seized his Tripoli compound.

In the audio speech, the colonel, whose whereabouts remain unknown, said he had made a “tactical” retreat from his Bab al-Aziziya compound in the capital.

But a BBC correspondent in Tripoli says nobody really believes the claim.

The compound fell on Tuesday to the rebels, who set about demolishing symbols of Col Gaddafi’s rule.

Fighters broke the head off a statue of the Libyan leader, kicking it along the ground as well as seizing items from Col Gaddafi’s home.

There were pro-rebel celebrations on the main squares in Tripoli and Benghazi but pockets of the capital remain under government control and many are reluctant to celebrate openly until Col Gaddafi and his sons are captured, the BBC’s Wyre Davies reports from the city.

While it was an oddly quiet night in Tripoli, parts of the city remain under government control, our correspondent adds.

At one stage, he and others had to feel from the ruins of the Bab al-Aziziya compound when snipers opened fire from within.

Pockets of resistance in the capital include the Abu Salim and al-Hadba districts, and near the Hotel Rixos, where many foreign journalists are staying.

‘Volcano and fire’

In a radio speech rebroadcast on a Libyan satellite TV channel, Col Gaddafi pledged “martyrdom or victory” in the fight against Nato and the Libyan rebels.

He said his compound had already been destroyed by 64 Nato air strikes.

“I have been out a bit in Tripoli discreetly, without being seen by people, and… I did not feel that Tripoli was in danger,” he said.

Gaddafi spokesman Moussa Ibrahim also spoke to Al-Urubah TV, saying 6,000 volunteers had arrived in Libya to fight for Col Gaddafi.

There was no independent confirmation of the report.

Libya would be turned into a “burning volcano and a fire under the feet of the invaders”, he said.

‘Matter of time’

On Tuesday morning, heavily armed rebel fighters streamed into the capital in dozens of pick-up trucks to take part in the attack on Bab al-Aziziya.

After five hours of intense fighting, they breached one of the main gates and then quickly overran the compound without meeting any resistance.

The rebels were shown destroying statues – including the iconic giant golden hand crushing a US fighter jet – firing guns in the air in celebration, and seizing weapons and ammunition from arms depots.

Rebel spokesman Ahmed Jibril told the BBC it was only a matter of time before Col Gaddafi was arrested.

“There is some information that indicated that he’s still in Tripoli; some other people are saying he might have left the capital towards the south. I think the issue now is not where Gaddafi is. It’s about when he’ll be arrested,” he said.

“It’s a matter of time until the people who are fighting realise that Gaddafi has fled or has left Tripoli already and then I think everybody will just lay down their weapons.”

It is not known if Col Gaddafi and his family were in Bab al-Aziziya on Tuesday, but the complex is reported to be connected by underground tunnels to various key locations across the city.

The Gaddafi family are also believed to have access to numerous safe houses in Tripoli and beyond.

The situation is unclear in the colonel’s hometown of Sirte, which has been a stronghold of regime loyalists. Reports said retreating government troops were heading there.

Mr Jibril later told the BBC that “there are negotiations going on with the people in Sirte and Sebha (in the south) and we expect the negotiation will reach a peaceful settlement and a peaceful end to this crisis and will see the whole country liberated very soon.

Sebha is home to many members of Col Gaddafi’s tribe.

Members of the rebel National Transitional Council (NTC), which has so far been based in the eastern city of Benghazi, said they planned to fly to Tripoli on Wednesday to start work on forming a new government.

Rebel representatives also prepared for high-level talks in Qatar on Wednesday with envoys of the US, UK, France, Turkey and the UAE to discuss how to move ahead in the post-Gaddafi Libya.

NTC chairman Mustafa Abdul Jalil said he was seeking $2.5bn (£1.5bn) in immediate aid. The US has said it will try to release up to $1.5bn in frozen Libyan assets.

The rebels swept into Tripoli at the weekend, but after a swift advance they met stiff resistance in a number of areas on Monday.

The uprising against Col Gaddafi’s 41-year rule began in February. The rebels held the east of the country and pockets of the west, before making their push towards the capital at the weekend.

Nato air strikes have been targeting Col Gaddafi’s forces, acting on a UN mandate to protect civilians.

Send r pictures and videos to rpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to 61124 (UK) or +44 7624 800 100 (International). If have a large file can upload here.

Read the terms and conditions

— ’re ’s , . : A ‘Malign Intellectual Subculture’ – George Monbiot Smears Chomsky, Herman, Peterson, Pilger And Media Lens.