Gaddafi To NATO: 'You Cannot Kill Me'

TRIPOLI, May 13 (Reuters) - Libyan state television carried brief audio remarks it said were by leader Muammar Gaddafi on Friday in which he taunted NATO as a cowardly crusader and said he was in a place they could not reach.

The comments came after Italy's foreign minister said Gaddafi had very likely left the Libyan capital and probably been wounded by NATO air strikes, a report that Tripoli immediately dismissed as nonsense.

"I tell the cowardly crusader (NATO) that I live in a place they cannot reach and where you cannot kill me .... I live in the hearts of the millions," said the voice, which sounded like Gaddafi's. There was no accompanying video.

He also said he was making the statement after receiving a "massive" number of calls asking about his condition following a NATO air strike on his compound on Thursday.

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini had said earlier he heard the report on Gaddafi from the bishop of Tripoli, Giovanni Innocenzo Martinelli.

"I tend to give credence to the comment of the bishop of Tripoli, Monsignor Martinelli, who has been in close contact over recent weeks, when he told us that Gaddafi is very probably outside Tripoli and is probably also wounded. We don't know where or how," Frattini told reporters in Italy.

NATO allies including the United States, Britain and France are bombing Libya as part of a U.N. mandate to protect civilians and they say they will not stop until the Libyan leader's 41-year rule ends.

Gaddafi faces a three-month-old uprising by rebels who control Benghazi and the oil-producing east of the country.

The government accuses the insurgents of being armed criminals and supporters of al Qaeda and says NATO air strikes are an act of colonial aggression.

(Reporting by Souhail Karam in Rabat and Sami Aboudi in Cairo; writing by Matthew Bigg; editing by Mark Heinrich)

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions.

Comments

[Victor Saymong]

12:02 PM on 05/16/2011

Step outside and say that. Just wait a minute and the USA or the French or the British will test your claim, Superman.

[Whinger]

11:21 AM on 05/16/2011

That which once belonged to the people shall soon belong to them again....

Strange that a man who claims to live in the hearts of millions is being crushed by rebellion!

[TedEjr]

08:31 AM on 05/16/2011

Gaddafi to camera---You cannot kill me. You cannot kill me. Wait. Wait. What is that sound? Explosions? Helicopters outside my building? Small arms fire? Cameraman, you stay here. I need to step to my bunker for a moment. Do not be alarmed. Remember they cannot kill me. But you, they can.

Um, Gaddafi? OBL said the same thing.

;-)

[pcs5141]

12:38 AM on 05/16/2011

Daffy reminds me of Lancelot Link secret chimp.Old TV show with dressed up chimps lip syncing to the dialog,lips a flappin,too funny.

[Dr Juan]

12:20 AM on 05/16/2011

"We are ruled by evil people" and moderators are their helpers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvWYeKI-gQ8

[shaitan]

11:00 PM on 05/15/2011

Perhaps some HuffPost readers have seen this on why the West is attacking Gaddafi but it needs to be widely read:

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28079.htm

[jagrmeister721]

01:41 AM on 05/16/2011

Absolutely excellent information.  We refused to enter the conflict in Tunisia or Egypt.  Yet the income per capita in Libya is an astounding $18,500.  This is from oil, largely.  So of course, we make an exception in their case.  For the last decade, Libya has complied more than most any Arab state in thwarting terrorism.  They voluntarily dismantled a WMD program (granted that was not far along).  That we are actively attacking Gaddafi as opposed to merely enforcing no-fly suggests crooked motives.  It is so hard to be proud of our country when we behave like a global bully.

[Scaybeez]

06:14 AM on 05/16/2011

While those facts are, to some degree, relevant, I would argue that they are far from the only relevant facts. Allow me to submit a few additional ideas into your analysis.

a) Tunisia should be placed in a separate category all-together, for few people saw the revolution there coming, much less expected it to succeed.

b) Egypt had a strong working relationship with the West, and the United States in particular, therefore other options were readily available for expediting Mubarak's departure (vs. Libya, where Gadhafi has repeatedly made it clear that he will kill his citizens with impunity and he would not heed any calls from the West for restraint - surely you didn't miss this?)

c) The death toll in Libya has been astronomically higher - up to 30,000 dead vs. the 6-700 killed in Egypt.

This seems like a good start. Yes, oil is relevant, but it is not the only relevant issue in play here. Nor should any American be particularly ashamed of the fact that our nation would take it into account along with all of these other factors. That's what responsible governments do.

[tpk]

10:31 PM on 05/15/2011

"You can't kill me"- said Gaddafi

"Yes, we can" - said Obama

"And he did" - said OBL

[Observer111]

06:55 PM on 05/15/2011

why Bananamama is so interested in AFRICAN affairs?

[dim]

09:17 AM on 05/16/2011

For the same reason Bushy-wushy set up USAFRICOM.

[pammiethekid]

10:01 AM on 05/16/2011

Careful with them big long words. Might get spittle on your white sheet.

[Observer111]

06:51 PM on 05/15/2011

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/13/world/africa/13benghazi.html

excellent...one crusader got kebabed...to be continued

[Scaybeez]

06:17 AM on 05/16/2011

Wait, why are you cheering this death?

[Observer111]

01:18 PM on 05/16/2011

French Fries should stay in Paris, eat frogs and deal with hotel maids incl. French Maids....not get involved in african matters and bomb other countries...this "security" contractor reached out to Libyan AQ and got kebabed, good beginning

[Adeyemo Sodipo]

06:35 PM on 05/15/2011

This guy is a coward. This guy is a bully. He must now be a rat or roach according to his son. Where are they? They sure know how to hide. Gaddafi...where are thou? You must be in your bunker and that is where you belong. Another African despot!!!!!

[americaisracist]

06:48 PM on 05/15/2011

a coward? for refusing to bow to the globalists, zionists and NATO? i think it takes guts to stand up to them. a bully? you mean the usa? get real. i am not saying Gaddafi is a good guy, but neither is USA or France. Libya's actions are saintly compared to all the mass murder committed by USA and France.

[jagrmeister721]

01:42 AM on 05/16/2011

We said we'd enforce the no-fly, and now we're actively bombing Libya.  Our country's behavior is repugnant and I'm not surprised countries lose faith in our verbal assurances.

[Observer111]

06:53 PM on 05/15/2011

African despot is Mo-barak Hosein Obama

[Olethea]

07:06 AM on 05/16/2011

That's Mr. President to you.

[dim]

09:28 AM on 05/16/2011

You mean our duly elected Hawaiian warlord? The one who goes gangsta on his enemies? You are brave.

[Observer111]

05:39 PM on 05/15/2011

Thanks to NATO involvement, this uprising by "rebels" = AQ = terrorists =militants continues to be a problem...local jihadi took possession of several thousand shoulder fired surface to air missiles ..Strela and Igla types...they will be used...not on NATO planes but on civilian airliners in different parts of the world...and then the tracks will go back to Libya and Qaddafi gets accused of terrorism...case closed...stay tuned for attacks of airliners...sadly these people will die not because of Qaddafi but because NATO is preventing lawful government of Libya to establish order...

[Dr Juan]

12:47 AM on 05/16/2011

You will enjoy the mid section of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xn4jzacAvo8&feature=watch_response

They will just invent evidence as needed.

[Richard Aron]

05:12 PM on 05/15/2011

Seriously where the heck is he right now? Nobody knows. Maybe his statement is true. Call in SEAL 6 right now.

[Observer111]

06:54 PM on 05/15/2011

do you think there are any gays on Team 6??

[Olethea]

07:06 AM on 05/16/2011

Could be. Why?

[dim]

09:30 AM on 05/16/2011

What part of "don't ask, don't tell" do you not get? Oh yeah, the "don't ask" part.

[Jack Daniels Esq]

04:38 PM on 05/15/2011

NATO to Gadaffi - we dont want to - yet - gotta get this war machine firing on all cylinders first

[americaisracist]

06:49 PM on 05/15/2011

yep.

[h23154]

03:57 PM on 05/15/2011

"Sounds like challenge to me." Homer Simpson, when told he could not drive jet skis while drunk.

[lqw]

03:29 PM on 05/15/2011

How is this attack on Libya different from Bush's attack on Iraq ?
Same thing. We have no business attacking Libya.
"Days NOT weeks ".Yeah right! It's been over 2 months.

[pammiethekid]

04:47 PM on 05/15/2011

Okay, here's the difference. 1. we did not go in on our own, we went in as part of an international effort. 2. we did not go in to impose regime change, but to aid rebels who had organized their own coup and help protect civilians being slaughtered. 3. We have not committed American troops to the ground, except as may be part of NATO.

I understand you may not care about the difference between going in as part of an international force and playing cowboy, but some of us do.

[Charles E Evans]

04:40 AM on 05/16/2011

The facts are like Christmas, we don't observe it enough. Thank you for bringing reality and truth to the conversation Pammie....

[dim]

09:40 AM on 05/16/2011

Huh? Trying to rub out the great leader is exactly trying to impose regime change. We've been trying it for a long time, with and without the international fig leaf. Just keep killing his kids instead.

We just can't stand seeing any part of Libyan oil revenues actually accrue to Libyans. Nor can we stand the great leader getting up in front of the United Nations and point out the ugly truth about us. As Reagan famously said about Ortega (slightly paraphrasing here): he just won't say "uncle".

[americaisracist]

06:49 PM on 05/15/2011

yes indeed. but you are being anti-american by being logical. i'm calling the thought police!