LIBYA: Moammar Kadafi speaks to nation, says he won’t leave power

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Longtime Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi is addressing the nation on state television Tuesday morning in what is shaping up to be a rambling, defiant speech lashing out at the United States and subversive ‘rats’ in his country, including young protesters.

Kadafi stood in front of a house in Tripoli that he claimed was bombed by American forces, shaking his fist and insisting he will not leave power despite recent unrest.

‘It is not possible that I leave this place,’ he said, according to a CNN translation. ‘I will be a martyr in the end.’

Kadafi dismissed reports of unrest in recent days, saying, ‘They give a bad image of you on the Arabic channels, unfortunately, they serve the devil, they want to insult you.’ He condemned protesters, whom he described as ‘a small group of youth attacking innocent people in their homes.’ He claimed they were taking ‘hallucinatory pills,’ drugging and bribing others to join them.

Kadafi reminded the country how he defied America and other ‘atomic powers’ and claimed he emerged victorious.

‘Our revolution brought glory for the generations and Libya will lead the revolution, lead America, lead Asia, lead the whole world,’ he said. ‘This march cannot be stopped by those agents, those rats who move in the dark.’

Freedom, he said, is a tree watered with blood.

-- Molly Hennessy-Fiske