THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The regime of Col Muammar Gaddafi of Libya is on the verge of collapse, but the dictator has hit out at the “dogs” who claimed he had fled the country.
As the violence intensified and indiscriminate shootings were reported in Tripoli, Gaddafi appeared on state television early on Tuesday to deny “malicious reports” he had fled Libya after several cities fell to opposition forces.
Libyan air force jets launched bombing raids on military bases and, it was claimed, rebel areas in a final attempt to reassert control.
Two colonels in the air force flew their jets to Malta, saying they had refused orders to fire on protesters in the second city Benghazi and wanted to seek asylum.
Senior regime figures, including his public security minister, justice minister and seven ambassadors around the world, also deserted Col Gaddafi. Libya’s deputy ambassador to the UN, Ibrahim Omar al-Dabashi, described his leader’s actions as “genocide” and pleaded for international intervention.
In his brief appearance on Libyan television, where he was filmed leaning out of the back of a car holding an umbrella, Gaddafi claimed he was still in Tripoli. >>> Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent, James Kirkup in Kuwait City and Nabila Ramdani in Cairo | Tuesday, February 22, 2011
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