Qadhafi Vows To Fight To Death

"We have only one choice: we will stay in our land dead or alive," the Libyan leader said in a televised audio broadcast made in immediate response to a wave of attacks by low-flying jets on Tripoli.

Jets could be overheard overhead as he spoke. According to one count, 27 heavy blasts were heard from the centre of the city during the day. Libyan officials confirmed that both Bab al-Azizia, the Gaddafi regime's residence and office compound, and the neighbouring Compound 77, home to a militia brigade and used as a vehicle storage facility, were repeatedly hit.

Col Gaddafi was not seen in his latest television appearance, a telephone call which went straight to air with no prior warning, and his whereabouts are unknown. He was last seen when he met President Jacob Zuma of South Africa at Bab al-Azizia on Monday of last week.

"We will not kneel!" he shouted. "We will not surrender: we only have one choice – to the end! Death, victory, it does not matter, we are not surrendering!

"We are stronger than your weapons, than your planes. The voices of the Libyan people are stronger than the sounds of explosions."

Jets could be overheard overhead as he spoke.