Deposed Muammar Gaddafi denied reports he had fled Libya to Niger, describing them as "psychological warfare and lies”. The defiant leader kept on mobilizing his countrymen to take up arms and “defeat NATO and rats”.

Deposed Muammar Gaddafi denied reports he had fled Libya to Niger, describing them as "psychological warfare and lies”. The defiant leader kept on mobilizing his countrymen to take up arms and “defeat NATO and rats”.

In an audio message broadcast on the Syrian-based Al-Rai TV, he addressed his
beloved Libyan as saying: “The Libyan land is yours and you need to defend it against all those traitors, the dogs, those that have been in Libya and are trying to take over the land “.

"They have nothing else to resort to apart from psychological warfare and lies".
"They last said Gaddafi had been seen in a convoy heading towards Niger. They want to weaken our morale. Do not waste time on this weak and ignoble enemy".

Gaddafi also vowed that NATO, which since March 31 has been carrying out daily air raids against his regime, "will be defeated" as its "logistical capacities will not allow it" to press on with its campaign.
"We are ready in Tripoli and everywhere to intensify attacks against the rats, the mercenaries, who are a pack of dogs”.

GADDAFI “SURROUNDED”
Meanwhile on the ground, Libyan fighters claimed on Wednesday they have surrounded Gaddafi within a 60km radius.
However a spokesman for Tripoli's new military council, Anis Sharif, declined to say where exactly Gaddafi had been found.
He said Gaddafi had been tracked using high technology and human intelligence. "He can't get out," he said.

Almost three weeks after the fall of Tripoli, rebel fighters are still working to gain full control of the country.
They have been engaged in prolonged negotiations to convince representatives from Bani Walid, about 150km southeast of Tripoli, that there would be no retributions if the town surrendered peacefully.
But the representatives, upon returning to the town to deliver the message, were fired at and forced to retreat to NTC territory on Tuesday.

On Thursday, the National Transitional Council sent an additional battalion of rebel fighters to Bani Walid, where it is preparing for a showdown with Gaddafi loyalists.
 

NIGER DENIES GADDAFI ON ITS LAND
Earlier, reports said that a large convoy, carrying high-ranking Gaddafi regime officials, had crossed the Libyan border to Niger.
National Transitional Council said it had dispatched a team to the Niger capital Niamey and the United States said Kadhafi aides who entered Niger were being detained.
However, Niger strongly denied he was in the country after

a convoy carrying other senior ousted regime officials fled there on Monday.
Niger's Foreign Minister Mohammed Bazoum, attending a Sahel conference in Algiers, said neither Gaddafi nor any other wanted fugitives had arrived in his country.
Gaddafi could cross into Niger but "to go where? It doesn't make sense", Bazoum said.
He added that if Gaddafi” has to roam, he would roam around Libya, not across Africa".

US: GADDAFI HASN’T FLED TO NIGER
For its part, the United States said Gaddafi was not believed to be among officials fled to Niger.
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said that none of those crossing into Niger earlier this week appeared to be on a list of persons subject to United Nations sanctions.

"Our understanding is that the convoy included some military and senior officials under Kadhafi's former regime," she said. "They are now being held in the capital... and they are being monitored closely by Nigerien officials."

Also, Washington "is in contact with Mali, Mauritania, Chad and Burkina Faso to emphasize the importance of respecting the UN Security Council resolutions and of securing their borders", Nuland said.