Gadhafi vows long war

A defiant Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi has vowed a "long war" after allied forces launched an air strike against his country.

In a phone call to Libyan state television yesterday, Gadhafi said he would not let up on Benghazi and said the government had opened up weapons depots to all Libyans, who were now armed with "automatic weapons, mortars and bombs".

State television said Gadhafi's supporters were converging on airports as human shields. "We promise you a long war," Gadhafi said.

He called the international assault "simply a colonial crusader aggression that may ignite another large-scale crusader war".

Throughout yesterday, Libyan TV showed a stream of what it said were popular demonstrations in support of Gadhafi in Tripoli and other towns and cities.

It showed cars with horns blaring, women ululating, young men waving green flags and holding up pictures of the Libyan leader. Women and children chanted, "God, Muammar and Libya, that's it!"

loyal supporters

"Our blood is green, not red," one unidentified woman told the broadcaster, referring to the signature colour of Gadhafi's regime. "He is our father, we will be with him to the last drop of blood. Our blood is green with our love for him."

However, Libya's rebels were jubilant after the first round of strikes before dawn yesterday, which came as the overwhelming firepower of Gadhafi's forces had threatened to crush their month-old uprising.

The strikes gave immediate, if temporary, relief to the besieged rebel capital, Benghazi, in eastern Libya, which the day before had been under a heavy attack that killed at least 120 people