THE embattled Libyan leader, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, has said that the current battle in Libya to overthrow his government is “fight to the finish,”
just as he said that he was still in Tripoli, hale and hearty and had not fled the country as it was widely believed.
Gaddafi reportedly told a Russian chess masterthat he would fight to the end, even as rebel forces said they had broken the first gate ofhis fortified Tripoli compound.
For the third day, fighting had flared in two key areas of the Libyan capital, Tripoli, asrebel fighters battle forces loyal to Gaddafi.
Gunfire and explosions were reportedly heard near a hotel held by Gaddafi’s troops and hisBab al-Aziziya compound.
A TV grab taken from Al Arabiya channel showed smoke rising in the sky from Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s fortified Bab al-Aziziya compound, asrebel forces were said to have breached the gates of Gaddafi’s compound.
But in a strange twist, the Libyan dictator told the Russian head of world chess, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, who recently paid him a visit in Libya, that he was in Tripoli and would not flee in the face of rebel forces massing around his Bab al-Aziziya compound.
Ilyumzhinov said he spoke to Gaddafi on Tuesday afternoon, andhe said Gaddafi told him:“I am alive and healthy, I am in Tripoli and do not intend to leave Libya.
“Do not believe the lyingreports by Western television companies.
“I want to express thanks to everyone in the world who feels forthe people of Libya. I am sure that we will bevictorious.”
The last time the two met was in June, when they played a relaxed game of chess in Tripoli,while fighting raged elsewhere in Libya.
The claim came as rebelforces breached the first gate of the complex, where Gaddafiis believed to be holed up with members of hisfamily and his remaininginner circle.
Also for the first time, Gaddafi’s son, Saif al-Islam, appeared in public, two days after rebels claimed he and his brothers had been captured.
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