Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi denied in an audio message an Italian claim he was wounded in a NATO strike, saying he was unreachable of bombs.

Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi denied in an audio message an Italian claim he was wounded in a NATO strike, saying he was unreachable of bombs.

"I want to say to the Crusader cowards that I live in a place where I cannot be reached or killed; I live in the hearts of millions," Gaddafi said in the message broadcast on state television.

A series of six loud explosions rocked Tripoli late Friday and early Saturday as jets flew overhead. Smoke could be seen rising from one of the sites in eastern Tripoli, witnesses said.
Air raids have rocked the Libyan capital almost nightly, stepping up the pressure on the Gaddafii regime.

"Even if you kill the body you will not be able to kill the soul that lives in the hearts of millions," he said, adding he had received a "massive" number of calls after a NATO air strike on his Bab al-Aziziyah compound in Tripoli on Thursday.

Government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim said Gaddafi was unharmed and in Tripoli, leading the country and in good spirits.

US STOPS SHORT OF RECOGNIZING OPPOSITION
On the other hand, the United States recognizing Libya's National Transitional Council as the country's legitimate government.

Libyan opposition movement’s number two, Mahmoud Jibril, was received at the White House by President Barack Obama's national security advisor. 

The White House said the National Transitional Council was a "legitimate and credible" voice of the Libyan people. But it stopped short of offering the full diplomatic recognition that Jibril was seeking.
The US and Britain have not recognized the NTC as the true government of Libya - in contrast to France, Italy and Qatar.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said on Thursday that such a step would be "premature".
The US has said it is up to the Libyans to decide their government, not foreign powers.