Qaddafi calls on Libyans to resist rebel forces

As rebel fighters overtook a military base defending the Libyan capital, and as anti-Qaddafi forces surrounded Tripoli, regime leader Muammar Qaddafi called on his people to rise up against "occupation agents."

In a radio speech broadcast Sunday night - when rebel fighters where entering the outskirts of Tripoli - Qaddafi called the enemy weak and warned that a half-million or million Libyans would crawl to the lines to take on the rebels and "show our defiance."

The following is a translation of Qaddafi's remarks:

O great Libyan people in Beni Walid ... in Sirte ... our people in Tajoura ... in Tarhouna ... The target is Tajoura ... the occupation wants to capture Tajoura through its agents ... they are embarked on a desperate attempt to allow their colonial masters set foot in Tripoli.

Wake up O people of Busalim ... Al-Sarraj ... Gorji ... from Thahra ... crawl towards Tajoura in your thousands now. A quarter million or half a million people from Tripoli should head towards Tajoura and Suq al-Jum'a now to cleanse them from the occupation agents.

We need to show our defiance now. Where are those who took part in the million-man marches in Tripoli? Come out now and march to the battlefront. I am with you in this battle ... I am amidst you now ... I am with you with my rifle ... we shall not surrender ... we shall not leave Tripoli fall in the hands of the occupiers nor to the traitors. We'd give our blood and our souls for you, Tripoli. We'd give our blood and our souls for you, Libya.

O' great people of Libya ... This is a decisive glorious hour ... an hour where you will taste victory only if you crawl in your millions towards Tajoura and Suq al-Jum'a ... and prevent Mitiga airbase from falling into the hands of the occupiers and their agents.

The enemy is weak ... the enemy is disintegrating ... they are running away in front of your soldiers. The masses must come out now. Come on our tribes in Tripoli ... the 20 tribes that are in Tripoli now ... they should start crawling now led by their coordinators.

O heroes ... sons ... grandsons ... martyrs of the battles of al-Hani and Bu-Miliana ... rise up o sons of the Four Directions ... rise up for Tripoli ... rise up to liberate it from the rats who seek to destroy it, and pave the way for colonial forces to conquer it.

O people of Tajoura ... don't allow those saboteurs destroy and burn Tajoura. They want destruction. They want Tajoura to become a field of operations. Get out of your homes and don't be sacred. They are in fewer numbers and poorly equipped.

Grab your weapons and get out of your homes ... men, women and children ... get out and show the world ... the Libyan people must demonstrate that they are brave and worthy people ... as they stand up to NATO and its agents ... crawl from everywhere towards Tajoura and Suq al-Jum'a ... enter into it ... house by house ... room by room ... I am with you in this battle ... we fight it just like our parents and grandparents did. Rise up and liberate the country from occupation.

All this that's happening falls in the interest of the occupation ... it's a plot to hand over Libyan oil to Sarkozy. To hand over the sovereignty of the Libyan people to Sarkozy. All what's happening now in Tajora falls within the interest of the occupiers. How do you allow this to happen? What a shame! Where are the million-man rallies?!! Get out ... men and women ... if you're afraid, give your gun to your wife or to your daughter. Let the women come out in their thousands now in the streets and squares of Tripoli ... to cleanse Tajoura and Suq al-Jum'a.

The Armed People's Units and the revolutionary formations are now confronting the enemy ... and so are the revolutionary committees ... and the tribes. Come on, tribes ... twenty tribes in Tripoli ... they must come out to the battlefield right now ... men and women. Today you must resolve the battle in Tajura. I am saying this because I fear that if you leave them, they might burn Tripoli ... destroy Tripoli ... leave it without water ... without electricity ... without air-conditioning ... without food ... drinks ... in complete terror as they would start killing you ... mutilate your bodies ... I fear if you don't do something in Tajoura, this would happen all over Tripoli. Those people don't care whether the whole of Libya burns or not.

Where are the wise men ... where are the scholars ... those who should lead the masses ... martyrdom! Don't be scared ... get out of your homes, get out of your homes now. You have your weapons, and those of you who don't have their weapon should come and we'll give him some. Let the weapons' warehouses open their doors ... thousands are being armed now! Open the warehouses ... this is an order from me to open the warehouses.

All the people of Tripoli should take part in the battle.

The people must prove now that it is worthy ... that it is capable of defending its freedom ... its country ... its wealth ... its oil ... its sovereignty ... this will be the first battle ever to be resolved through the masses ... Come out and I shall be with you ... I am with you in Tripoli ... there's no turning back ... until the last drop ... we shall liberate it.

Don't allow the occupation to set foot in your country. I am with you in this battle. As I promised you before, we never surrender. We shall be victorious ... because we suffered an injustice ... an aggression against our country ... our safety and our comfort ... we suffered an injustice, and God must makes us victorious in the end.

Rise up in all your strength. Forwards ... forwards ... Allah Akbar.