The Libyan people will take up arms against Western powers if they seek to enforce a no-fly zone in their country's airspace, Moammar Gadhafi said in an interview broadcast Wednesday.
"If they take such a decision it will be useful for Libya, because the Libyan people will see the truth, that what they want is to take control of Libya and to steal their oil," Gadhafi told Turkey's state-run TRT news channel.
"Then the Libyan people will take up arms against them," Gadhafi said. The interview was conducted in Arabic and aired with Turkish subtitles.
Gadhafi was responding to discussions by the U.S., U.K. and other countries about taking measures against his regime, including imposing a no-fly zone to prevent Gadhafi's warplanes from striking rebels.
'Snipers everywhere'
Meanwhile, the tanks of pro-Gadhafi forces were closing in on the rebel-held main square of Zawiya Wednesday and their snipers were shooting at anything that moved, rebels and residents said.
Bodies lay unrecovered in the ruins of many buildings destroyed in air raids earlier in the week. There were few people in the streets of the center of the city of 200,000 and it was not possible to verify the reports independently.
Video: Gadhafi strikes force rebels to regroup (on this page)
"We can see the tanks. The tanks are everywhere," the rebel fighter told Reuters by phone from inside Zawiya, which lies 30 miles west of Tripoli.
The fighter, named Ibrahim, said forces loyal to Gadhafi were in control of the main road and the suburbs of Zawiya, which in the past three days has become the focal point of a civil war on two fronts to oust the regime.
Zawiya was, briefly, described as a rebel stronghold in the uprising which erupted against Gadhafi last month. But it may now be on the verge of changing hands.
"The situation is not so good," said a resident reporting by telephone. Civilians are pinned down in their houses, unable to flee from the mounting violence.
"No one can move outside their homes because they there are snipers everywhere," he added.
Gadhafi also called on Libyans in the rebel-held east of the country to take back control from the opposition leaders who have seized the territory.
Interactive: Key events, players in Libya (on this page)
Addressing a group of youths from the town of Zintan, 75 miles southwest of Tripoli, Gadhafi again blamed al-Qaida operatives from Egypt, Algeria, Afghanistan and the Palestinian territories for the turmoil roiling his country since Feb. 15.
Libya's state television broadcast Gadhafi's address early Wednesday, but did not say when the Libyan leader had spoken.
Pro-Gadhafi forces have been battling rebel forces in the east of the country and in a handful of others near the capital Tripoli, which remains under the control of his regime.
Gadhafi has been in power since 1969.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41983346/ns/world_news-mideastn_africa/
"If they take such a decision it will be useful for Libya, because the Libyan people will see the truth, that what they want is to take control of Libya and to steal their oil," Gadhafi told Turkey's state-run TRT news channel.
"Then the Libyan people will take up arms against them," Gadhafi said. The interview was conducted in Arabic and aired with Turkish subtitles.
Gadhafi was responding to discussions by the U.S., U.K. and other countries about taking measures against his regime, including imposing a no-fly zone to prevent Gadhafi's warplanes from striking rebels.
'Snipers everywhere'
Meanwhile, the tanks of pro-Gadhafi forces were closing in on the rebel-held main square of Zawiya Wednesday and their snipers were shooting at anything that moved, rebels and residents said.
Bodies lay unrecovered in the ruins of many buildings destroyed in air raids earlier in the week. There were few people in the streets of the center of the city of 200,000 and it was not possible to verify the reports independently.
Video: Gadhafi strikes force rebels to regroup (on this page)
"We can see the tanks. The tanks are everywhere," the rebel fighter told Reuters by phone from inside Zawiya, which lies 30 miles west of Tripoli.
The fighter, named Ibrahim, said forces loyal to Gadhafi were in control of the main road and the suburbs of Zawiya, which in the past three days has become the focal point of a civil war on two fronts to oust the regime.
Zawiya was, briefly, described as a rebel stronghold in the uprising which erupted against Gadhafi last month. But it may now be on the verge of changing hands.
"The situation is not so good," said a resident reporting by telephone. Civilians are pinned down in their houses, unable to flee from the mounting violence.
"No one can move outside their homes because they there are snipers everywhere," he added.
Gadhafi also called on Libyans in the rebel-held east of the country to take back control from the opposition leaders who have seized the territory.
Interactive: Key events, players in Libya (on this page)
Addressing a group of youths from the town of Zintan, 75 miles southwest of Tripoli, Gadhafi again blamed al-Qaida operatives from Egypt, Algeria, Afghanistan and the Palestinian territories for the turmoil roiling his country since Feb. 15.
Libya's state television broadcast Gadhafi's address early Wednesday, but did not say when the Libyan leader had spoken.
Pro-Gadhafi forces have been battling rebel forces in the east of the country and in a handful of others near the capital Tripoli, which remains under the control of his regime.
Gadhafi has been in power since 1969.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41983346/ns/world_news-mideastn_africa/
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