(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Libya's Moammar Qaddafi ordered his followers Tuesday to crush an uprising against his 41-year rule and vowed a fight to the death as he swatted away growing outrage over a bloody crackdown on protesters.
As the U's Security Council held emergency consultations and its top human rights official said crimes against humanity may have been perpetrated, the longest-ruling Arab leader appeared on state TV to denounce his critics.
"This is my country, my country," he shouted, in an often rambling and angry speech. "I will fight to the last drop of my blood."
The 69-year-old said he would "die a martyr in the land of my ancestors" and urged his followers to demonstrate from Wednesday.
"Capture the rats," he said of anti-regime demonstrators. "Go out of your homes and storm them" wherever they are, he said.