Gaddafi vows to fight on

 

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Libyan leader Mouammar Gaddafi vowed  to fight on, while Western countries were trying to work out who was going to take over the lead role in the current military operation in Libya, Xinhua reported.

A rebel fighter looks at burning vehicles belonging to forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi after an air strike by coalition forces, along a road between Benghazi and Ajdabiyah March 20, 2011. [Xinhua] 

The TV footage showed Gadhafi making a short live address to his supporters. "Be it long or short, we're ready for battle," he said."We will be victorious in the end."  

Gaddafi vowed not to surrender, saying "We will defeat them by any means,"  according to the live broadcast. 

Gaddafi also condemned the air raids carried out by the western powers against his country, claiming that the attacks breached the charter of the United Nations.  

He also warned that those attackers were fascists who "will end up in the dustbin of history," according to Reuter reports.   

Who is in command?   

U.S. President Obama, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister David Cameron agreed that NATO should play an important role in enforcing the Libyan no-fly zone, the White House said. 

People look at a U.S Air Force F-15E fighter jet after it crashed near the eastern city of Benghazi March 22, 2011. The fighter jet crashed in Libya overnight after apparent mechanical failure but its crew were safe, a spokesman for the U.S. military Africa Command said on Tuesday. [Xinhua] 

Obama expressed his hope that an international coalition would soon take over the Libya operation so that the United States would not bear all the cost during his visit to El Salvador Tuesday.

"And when this transition takes place, it is not going to be our planes that are maintaining the no-fly zone. It is not going to be our ships that are necessarily involved in enforcing the arms embargo," Obama told reporters in San Salvador, hoping that the transition was going to be accomplished in a few days instead of weeks.

"We will continue to support the efforts to protect the Libyan people, but we will not be in the lead," declared Obama.

"We're already seeing a significant reduction in the number of U.S. planes that are involved in operations over Libya," Obama said, adding that "our job was to take our unique capabilities and create a space to shape the environment so that the operation of a no-fly zone could operate effectively, and to make sure that our immediate humanitarian goals could be met."

"I think fairly shortly we are going to be able to say that we've achieved the objective of a no-fly zone," said Obama, adding that "We will also be able to say that we have averted immediate tragedy."

Italy said Monday that the leadership of the military operations in Libya should be under NATO command.

"We believe it is appropriate that NATO takes over the command of the mission" said Italian Defense Minister Ignazio La Russa at the end of an extraordinary cabinet meeting on developments in Libya and Italy's role.

British Defense Minister Liam Fox also echoed his stance, hoping the command would be taken over by NATO "within the next few days."

China calls for ceasefire in Libya

China is once again calling for an immediate ceasefire by all relevant parties in Libya and to resolve the issue in a peaceful manner, Xinhua reported on Wednesday.

Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Jiang Yu says China supports the diplomatic efforts of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the African Union and the Arab League. She stresses relevant countries should follow the objectives and principles of the UN Charter and international laws, and to respect Libya's sovereignty, independence, unification and territorial integrity.

She also voiced China's concern that the international military strikes may have caused civilian casualties.

Xinhua and Reuters contributed to the story.