Gaddafi vows not to quit, offers talks with NATO

Defiant Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi vowed on Saturday not to quit, but said he was ready for a "ceasefire and negotiations" as NATO bombed a key government complex in Tripoli while the Libyan regime stepped up the offensive in the besieged western city of Misurata.

"I'm not leaving my country," 68-year old Gaddafi said in a speech on state television in the early hours today.

He said "no one can force me to leave my country" - a key condition of the Libyan rebels seeking the end of the 41-year rule of Gaddafi.

Striking a conciliatory note, he called for a ceasefire and negotiations with NATO to stop the punishing air strikes in Libya.

"[Libya] is ready until now to enter a ceasefire ...

but a ceasefire cannot be from one side," he said.

The Libyan strongman blamed the western nations for the violence in his country.

"We did not attack them or cross the sea ... why are they attacking us? Let us negotiate with you, the countries that attack us. Let us negotiate," he said.

Al Jazeera channel quoted the state television as saying that NATO air strikes had hit a site in Tripoli close to the television building during Gaddafi''s address.

"A building adjacent to the Jamahiriya building was bombed during the broadcast of Muammar Gaddafi''s speech and that implies a target on the leader of the revolution himself," the report said.

Gaddafi's son Seif al-Islam vowed that the government will "fight NATO for 40 years" if necessary. "We will not raise the white flag of surrender," he was quoted as saying in the media yesterday during a visit to a hospital to meet wounded people in NATO air strikes.

Meanwhile, Libyan government said it will not allow any sea deliveries to Misurata, which has been besieged for over seven weeks, sparking a humanitarian crisis.

It threatened to attack any ships trying to enter the lifeline rebel-held port, after tanks pounded Misurata.

BBC quoted government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim as saying that the opposition fighters in Misurata would be given an amnesty if they lay down their arms in four days.

However, he warned of "total fire" if the rebels continued to fight in the besieged city, 215 km east of Tripoli.

Even as the Libyan forces continued to shell the port city, it was trying to lay mines off Misurata. BBC quoted a NATO commander as saying that the mines were being disposed of. Fierce fighting erupted between the rebels and the government troops for the control of Misurata's airport while the Libyan regime stepped up the pounding of the third largest city.

Reports said at least 15 were feared killed and many more wounded ahead of the speech by Gadhafi. Government forces have been trying to take control of Misurata from rebels in several weeks of fighting as the port is a lifeline suppling food and medicine, and facilitating the evacuation of the wounded and stranded migrant workers in the face of the humanitarian disaster.