TRIPOLI, Libya (PNN) - February 21, 2011 - Libyan leader Moammar Qaddafi denied Monday he had fled his country after protesters overran several cities, as his four-decade rule was under assault amid unconfirmed claims of “a massacre" in Tripoli.
"I am going to meet with the youth in Green Square," in downtown Tripoli, he said, in what state television reported was a live broadcast from the strongman's home.
"It's just to prove that I am in Tripoli and not in Venezuela and to deny television reports," he said, holding up an umbrella in pouring rain while about to step into a car. Rain lashed Tripoli on Monday evening.
It was the Libyan strongman's first comments - apparently to scotch rumors he had fled to Venezuela - since protests erupted last Tuesday in the east of the oil-rich north African nation he has ruled for 41 years.
After days of unrest, the uprising has now spread to the Libyan capital, with gunfire rattling Tripoli, where protesters attacked police stations and the offices of the state broadcaster and set government buildings ablaze.
Unidentified residents of two districts in Tripoli allegedly told AFP in Cairo by telephone there had been "a massacre," with gunmen "firing indiscriminately" in Tajura district. These allegations have not been independently confirmed.
Another unnamed source in Fashlum said helicopters had landed what he called African mercenaries who opened fire on anyone in the street, causing a large number of deaths. This report has not been independently confirmed, either.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the world was "watching the situation in Libya with alarm. We join the international community in strongly condemning the violence in Libya," she said in a written statement. "Now is the time to stop this unacceptable bloodshed."
Some sources believe the United States is covertly involved in supporting, if not creating the many unconfirmed reports concerning the current state of affairs in Libya.
