Gaddafi dismisses sanctions, says rebels will be defeated
"The people of Libya support me, small groups of rebels are surrounded and will be dealt with," Libyan leader says in phone interview.
By REUTERSGaddafi speech TV 311 AP(photo credit: Associated Press)
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi on Sunday dismissed new UN sanctions against him and said a small group of rebels protesting his rule were surrounded and would be defeated.In a telephone interview with a Serbian television station, he said Saturday's UN Security Council vote imposing travel and asset sanctions on him and close aides was null and void.RELATED:Anti-Gaddafi rebels take over city closest to TripoliObama: Gaddafi has lost legitimacy to rule, must leaveUN Security Council slaps sanctions on Libya's Gaddafi"The people of Libya support me, small groups of rebels are surrounded and will be dealt with," Gaddafi told Serbia's Pink television station in Belgrade. The station said the interview was conducted from Gaddafi's office in Tripoli.Earlier on Sunday, Gaddafi's son denied in a US television interview that turmoil was sweeping the country and said the military did not use force against the people, despite reports to the contrary.There was a "big, big gap between reality and the media reports," Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, told ABC News' "This Week" television program. "The whole south is calm. The west is calm. The middle is calm. Even part of the east."His assessment came despite media reports of more gains by anti-Gaddafi forces with the latest coming from the city of Zawiyah, only 30 miles (50 km) west of the Libyan capital of Tripoli.Saif Gaddafi also denied allegations that the military was targeting Libyan citizens."Show me a single attack, show me a single bomb," he saidin the interview. "The Libyan air force destroyed just theammunition sites. That's it."Meanwhile, armed men opposed to Gaddafi's rule are in control of the city of Zawiyah, about 30 miles west of the capital Tripoli, a Reuters reporter in the town said.The red, green and black flag of Libya's anti-Gaddafi rebellion was flying from a building in the centre of the town and a crowd of several hundred people was chanting "This is our revolution," the reporter said.Also on Sunday, the British government revoked the diplomatic immunity in the UK of Gaddafi and his sons, Foreign Secretary William Hague said, urging Gaddafi to step down."Of course it is time for Col. Gaddafi to go," Hague said in a BBC interview."That is the best hope for Libya and last night I signed a directive revoking his diplomatic immunity in the United Kingdom, but also the diplomatic immunity of his sons, his family, his household, so it's very clear where we stand on his status as a head of state," he said.The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Sunday that nearly 100,000 people have fled violence in Libya in the past week, streaming into Tunisia and Egypt in a growing humanitarian crisis.They include Tunisians, Egyptians, Libyans and third country nationals including Chinese and other Asians. About half of the 100,000 have gone to Tunisia and half to Egypt.Click for full Jpost coverage of turmoil in the Middle East
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