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Following are excerpts from a speech by Libyan Leader Mu'ummar Al-Qadhafi, which aired on Al-Jamahiriya TV on March 2, 2011:
Mu'ammar Al-Qadhafi: How did it all start? [It started with] tiny, dormant Al-Qaeda cells, whose members gradually infiltrated from abroad. Some of them are Libyans living abroad, in Afghanistan or Iraq, and others are not Libyans.
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Some of these people were in Guantanamo. The US intelligence knows them by name. They handed over to us, to the Libyan intelligence. After some time, the Libyan intelligence released them, because they said: "We have repented. Thanks for getting us out of Guantanamo. We are decent people now." Later, all of a sudden, they betrayed the oath they had taken.
It turned out that they were dormant Al-Qaeda cells. There is a small group in Darnah, a group in Tobruq, There is a group in Benghazi, and, possibly, a group in Al-Zawiyah. In several areas, maybe Misurata… some these people infiltrated from abroad, settled in these areas, and formed dormant cells.
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All of a sudden, a dormant cell in Al-Bayda attacked the brigade. They open fire [on the brigade] and took weapons from the police stations.
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Not a single demonstration was held in Benghazi, Al-Bayda, or Darnah. Not a single demonstration. There no demonstrations whatsoever. All of a sudden, these groups appeared out of nowhere, attacked the police stations, took weapons, and began killing people. Most of the people who died were killed by them.
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The strange thing is that the world has received news from reporters and media outlets that are not in Libya. There are no reporters in Libya, as you know. Unfortunately, the Libyans do not like foreign reporters, so there are no such reporters. [The Libyans] do not care about this.
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We demand that the world and the UN send commissions of inquiry to check where people where killed: Whether it was in the streets or in front of a police station or a military base.
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Would America, France, Russia, or any country allow people to attack a military base or a police station, grab weapons from there, and take to the streets, without fighting them?! They would fight them! They killed civilians who holed themselves up in the Branch Davidian Compound. They attacked the Russian parliament with tanks, even though the people who holed themselves up there were unarmed. We are facing militant groups. We have only besieged them.
It is like when the Algerian army confronted the militant groups, or even like in Gaza, when the Israeli tanks go in, or when they bomb from the air, and they say that they are fighting militant groups, not the Palestinian people. You have the right to fight militants. NATO attacks in Afghanistan and says: "Today, we killed 100 militants, we did not kill the people." In Swat Valley in Pakistan they kill militants, they say. Therefore, the killing of militants is permissible.
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This is an attempt to bring colonialism to Libya. They will use any pretext for this. The US might take Libyan oil again, and seize the vast territory of Libya. Ultimately, they will lose.
The fact that we did not fight [the insurgents], enabled them to gain control of the center of towns like Al-Bayda, Darnah, and Benghazi. They use their weapons to impose a curfew upon the people. They use their weapons to impose a curfew upon the people. People held demonstration against them, in support of [our] Revolution, and they say: "We will kill whoever demonstrates."
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All the demonstrations in Libya are in support of [our] Revolution. [The media] sees them, but deliberately refrains from publishing this, because there is a conspiracy to control Libyan oil, to control Libyan land, and to impose colonialism on Libya once again. This is impossible! Impossible, impossible! We wil fight to the last man and to the last woman to defend Libya in its entirety – from north to south.
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With regard to my children in Benghazi and Dar Al-Kheima – we advise them not to jump on the bandwagon, not to do harm to themselves. Keep them on the right side of the law, on the side of popular democracy, peace, and security, and against opening our country to foreign forces. The last thing they need is to allow the US or NATO to intervene, because they will turn you into slaves, like we were slaves of Italy for decades.
Once again, we will become America's slaves for decades. We will not allow this to happen. We will enter a very bloody war, and thousands of Libyans will die, if the US or NATO intervene. Thousands of Libyans will die.
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We say to the outside world that we don’t need supplies. We don't need medicine, or any other aid. The [insurgents] should beware not to open this door, otherwise, we will become like Iraq or Darfur.
Anyone who allows this door to be opened is considered a traitor, who commits high treason against Libya. Opening the door to foreign aid means opening the door to the colonialism of Libya. The Libyan people in its entirety is ready to close this door shut. We have supplies, medicine, money and everything. We are in need of nothing.
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If the West does not want to be our friend, does not want to cooperate with us, threatens us, and forces us to hate it, we accept this challenge. They will be the ones to lose. This is not the first time that we and they find ourselves in confrontation. They already lost many confrontations. There is the great East. There is the giant China. There is Russia. There India. There is South America. There the giant Brasil. We will replace the West with all these powers. We will replace the West with all these powers. The Western companies and banks can go on their way, and the Western investments, and cooperation will come to an end, we will turn to the great East.
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If the unity of Libya is harmed, or if someone gets near the oil, which is the livelihood of Libya, the entire Libyan people will turn to arms to thwart this. We will all turn to arms to foil any attempt to harm the unity of Libya, or any threat to our children's food. The oil is the food of our children. We will all die in defense of the oil. Whoever threatens our oil should know this.
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Our friends in Europe and in the West should realize that when Libya is stable, with its current – and future – popular regime, it serves as a safety valve in the Mediterranean Sea. It is Libya that stops the millions of immigrants from reaching Europe. It is Libya that prevents Bin Laden from moving to North Africa. It is Libya that prevents Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb from growing stronger. By no means is it in their interest to undermine Libya's regime or stability.
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If Libya will come to an end, like they want, they will face a catastrophe. They will be flooded by Africans marching to Europe through Libya, without anybody stopping them. Millions will be marching.
In the Mediterranean Sea there will be piracy, like in Somalia. The sons of Barbarossa will emerge again. You should remember Hayreddin Barbarossa. This activity will be renewed in the Mediterranean Sea. They will say that the ships of the Christians are infidel ships, and cannot sail in the Mediterranean unless they pay. This is what will happen if Libya is not stable.
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This situation cannot continue. The world has not protested Algeria's fighting militant gangs for several years. The world did not protest when Russia fought in Chechnya. The world justified Russia. Now the Western world is fighting in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, and dozens of innocent people die every day. Hundreds of children die, and tens of thousands of people die, because they claim to be fighting terror – militant groups, like the Taliban and Al-Qaeda…
Every day they announce the killing of militants. The Israelis enter Gaza with their tanks, open fire, and say: "We killed militants." They fire from airplanes, destroying homes, mosques, workshops, and offices, and say that Hamas militants were in them. The world does not protest. You have the right to fight militants. Anyone has the right to fight militants within his country.
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Starting today, we will deal with this problem in a serious way. What [the insurgents are doing] is not something trivial that we can ignore, because the outcome will be dangerous. They are in a desperate situation. They will never rule Libya. They will not rule any place where they are present. They will come to an end.
Eventually, they will come to an end, one way or another. Nobody would agree to have militant groups terrorizing the people. This is inconceivable – not in the US, China, Russia, India, or anywhere.
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We will allow the US and NATO to enter Libya only when Libya drowns in blood. Fighting colonialism… If the American of the West enter Libya, they should know that they are entering hell and a sea of blood.
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I have hopes that… It is the US who is leading the Western world and the UN. I believe that the policy of that young man, Obama, according to his past declarations, is a reasonable policy. He is not a reckless, colonialist Yankee like Bush, Clinton, or anyone else. I think that he can spare his country and Europe another Iraq, another Afghanistan, or another Vietnam.
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