Digging in his heels, a defiant Muammar Gaddafi today refused to give up power and claimed that the anti-regime protests were part of a conspiracy to grab the oil resources of Libya.
As his forces went on an offensive to wrest key cities from the rebels, 68-year-old Gaddafi appeared at a public gathering for the first time, an event aired live on state television.
"We will fight to the end, to the last man, the last woman with God's help," he said while describing the two-week long protests as being orchestrated by only a minority who were being propped up by "foreign forces, foreign media".
"Millions of Libyan people support me. They say they are ready to die for me," he said during his address which saw his supporters frequently cheer him.
Making light of a popular uprising against his rule, Gaddafi joined his loyalists at a ceremony to mark 34 years of "people's power", accusing al-Qaeda of being behind the rebellion.
Gaddafi, who had assumed the country's charge 41 year ago through a coup, had proclaimed "people's power" on March 2, 1977.
In his address, he repeatedly underlined that there is no question of him quitting as he is not a President. "To step down from what? I am just a symbol. Power is in the hands of the people," he said. "This is a conspiracy to grab our oil resources."
Amid growing international isolation, Gaddafi called for the United Nations and NATO to a "set up fact-finding committees" to find out how people were killed and what had happened in Libya.
He blamed the foreign forces for the events in Libya, saying it was "a conspiracy" to colonise the country and seize its oil resources. "Don't trust the foreign media."
"I dare you to find that peaceful protesters were killed. In America, France and everywhere, if people attacked military stores and tried to steal weapons, they will shoot them," he said.
The message of defiance came as the Libyan strongman unleashed his force of heavily armed mercenaries who stormed the rebel-held oil exporting terminal town of Brega, with the US warships taking up positions off the north African country's coast.
Forces loyal to Gaddafi also regained control of the strategic town in the country's north west, even as opposition fighters were preparing for a march into the capital Tripoli.
Deploying tanks and heavy artillery, Gaddafi sent a hundred cars packed with mercenaries to storm the rebel-held Brega as his Russian-built warplanes bombed the nearby Ajdabiya, 40 kms from the oil-town.
In his over one hour address, Gaddafi said the world did not understand the Libyan system that puts power in the hands of the people.
"The people are free to chose the authority they see fit," he said.
"We put our fingers in the eyes of those who doubt that Libya is ruled by anyone other than its people," he said, referring to his system of "direct democracy" which he outlined in his Green Book political manifesto, launched in 1977.
"I have always said that the Libyan people are free (in managing their own business)," he said.
He repeatedly claimed that al-Qaeda was behind the popular uprising against his 41-year rule and promised to fight it to the last man and woman.
"Sleeper cells from al-Qaeda, its elements, infiltrated gradually. Suddenly it started in al-Baida. The sleeping cell was told to attack the battalion and it took arms from police stations," he said.
"The soldiers went home and left their battalion" while the al-Qaeda cells "took the weapons and control of the town. It was the same situation in Benghazi," which is under the control of the rebel forces, the Libyan ruler claimed.
Gaddafi said there "were no protests in the second largest city of Benghazi, Derna or the eastern town of al-Baida... That it all started with sleeping cells taking over weapons and security stations."
He claimed that terrorists released prisoners from jails and included them in their forces.
"These are criminals not political prisoners. There are no political prisoners in Libya. We had to destroy the weapons storages to prevent them from falling into the hands of the terrorists," he said.
