THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Col Muammar Gaddafi threatened to unleash mob rule on his country on Tuesday night as he vowed to "cleanse Libya house by house" until he had crushed the insurrection seeking to sweep him from power.
With hundreds dead and violence spreading across the country, including the capital Tripoli, European states scrambled to evacuate thousands of their citizens left stranded by the turmoil.
Britain announced it would provide an airlift for nationals and a Royal Navy frigate was ordered to Libyan waters for added protection.
William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, said a chartered plane would arrive in Tripoli within 48 hours.
"The safety of British nationals in Libya is of paramount concern to us," Mr Hague said. "In light of the fluid and dangerous situation, we are urgently reinforcing our team on the ground with specialist personnel to provide help and assistance to British nationals."
Heedless of the growing international outrage prompted by his bloody repression of the protests against him, Mr Gaddafi took to the airwaves to deliver the most chilling speech of his 42 years in power.
In a diatribe that lasted an hour-an-a-quarter, the Libyan leader threatened death sentences against anyone who challenged his authority and declared that he had more justification to use force that the Chinese authorities who ordered the massacre in Tiananmen Square. (+ video) >>> Adrian Blomfield, in Cairo | Tuesday, February 22, 2011
