OnIslam.net

TRIPOLI – Threatening retaliation against NATO countries which have been pounding his strongholds since March, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi vowed to attack targets in Europe unless airstrikes on his country are ceased.

"The Libyan people are capable, one day, of taking the battle to Europe and the Mediterranean," Gaddafi said in a speech broadcast by loudspeaker to thousands of loyalists gathered on Friday, July 1, in Tripoli's emblematic Green Square, Agence-France Presse (AFP) reported.

"They could attack your homes, your offices, your families (who) could become legitimate military targets because you have transformed our offices, headquarters, homes and children into military targets which you say are legitimate," Gaddafi said.

"If we decide to do so, we are capable of throwing ourselves on Europe like swarms of locusts or bees.

"So we advise you to backtrack before you face a catastrophe," he warned in a speech to mark 100 days of the military campaign by NATO countries against his country.

Gaddafi's warning came just a few days after the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for him, his son Saif al-Islam and intelligence chief Abdullah al-Sanoussi for crimes against humanity.

Gaddafi's regime has earned notoriety over the past four decades since he seized power in 1969, being held responsible for a string of bombings against Western and European targets.

A Libyan agent, Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi, was convicted of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, which killed 270 people, most of them US nationals.

The 1986 bombing of a Berlin discotheque frequented by US soldiers, which killed three people, two of them servicemen, prompted then US president Ronald Reagan to order air strikes against Libyan cities in which at least 15 people died.

The Libyan regime was allegedly held responsible for the 1989 bombing of a French UTA airliner over West Africa, which left 170 people dead.

Gaddafi was speaking from a secret location, but his voice boomed across the square, where the authorities were hoping to gather one million regime supporters.

The crowds, waving green flights and carrying portraits of Gaddafi, chanted slogans of allegiance to "God, Gaddafi and Libya," while some fired guns into the air in celebration as the night sky was lit by fireworks.

Gaddafi vowed that his forces will defeat NATO and called on European leaders to talk to his people "and heads of tribes" to find a solution to the protracted crisis, saying he was ready to help.

"Pull back, you have no chance of defeating this brave (Libyan) people," he told the NATO alliance.

"The Libyans will defeat the Crusader NATO forces."

Just Go

The first reaction for Gaddafi's threats came from US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who brushed off the remarks and called on the Libyan leader to leave.

"Instead of issuing threats, Gaddafi should put the well-being and the interests of his own people first," Clinton was quoted by Reuters as telling a news conference on Saturday during a visit to NATO member Spain.

"He should step down from power and help facilitate a democratic transition."

Spanish Foreign Minister Trinidad Jimenez said the alliance stance was unchanged.

"Spain's and the international coalition's response is to maintain the unity and determination with which we have been working these past months," he told the press conference.

London-based Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that Gaddafi's representatives had been meeting officials from France and Britain on the Tunisian island of Djerba.

Citing unnamed sources from the Gaddafi and opposition camps, the newspaper said Gaddafi was willing to step down if he was spared prosecution and allowed to live in his hometown of Sirte, northern Libya, with guarantees for his security.

African Union leaders offered on Friday to host talks on a ceasefire and transition to democratic government, but left open whether there was any future role for Gaddafi.

There was no immediate reaction from either side to the offer.

A document seen by Reuters at the end of the summit in Equatorial Guinea said member states would not execute the arrest warrant for Gaddafi, leaving open the possibility that he could go into exile in one of the African Union's 53 nations.