Gaddafi: My people will die to protect me
Embattled Libyan leader says West abandoned his government; claims demonstrators under influence of drugs supplied by Qaeda
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, facing a popular uprising, accused Western countries of abandoning his government in its fight against "terrorists" in an interview with US television network ABC on Monday.
"I'm surprised that we have an alliance with the West to fight al-Qaeda, and now that we are fighting terrorists they have abandoned us," Gaddafi, told ABC's Christiane Amanpour. "Perhaps they want to occupy Libya."
"During my conversation with Gaddafi, he told me, 'All my people love me. They would die to protect me,'" Amanpour said in a Twitter message.
Gaddafi called US President Barack Obama a "good man" but said he appeared to be misinformed about the situation in Libya, ABC News reported on its website.
"The statements I have heard from him must have come from someone else," Gaddafi said. "America is not the international police of the world," he added.
In an interview with BBC, the embattled leader said true Libyans had not demonstrated but those who had come on to the streets were under the influence of drugs supplied by al-Qaeda.
'Protestors on drugs.' Anti-Gaddafi graffiti in Libya (Photo: AFP)
He said anti-government protestors had seized weapons and that his supporters were under orders not to shoot back.
Also on Monday, Al-Jazeera reported that Gaddafi had instructed his head of intelligence to negotiate with rebel leaders in east Libya.
Earlier, a Pentagon official said the US military is repositioning naval and air forces around Libya, as international demands intensify for an end to Gaddafi's four-decade rule.
"We have planners working and various contingency plans and I think it's safe to say as part of that we're repositioning forces to be able to provide for that flexibility once decisions are made ... to be able to provide options and flexibility," said Colonel David Lapan, a Pentagon spokesman.
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