Nations bombing Libya are 'terrorists,' Gadhafi says
By the CNN Wire Staff
March 20, 2011 10:16 a.m. EDT
Click to play
European reaction to airstrikes
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
* NEW: The U.N.-mandated no-fly zone is "effectively in place," the top US
military officer says
* A woman in Tripoli says civilians are given access to anti-aircraft
weapons
* U.S. military official: Missiles hit about 20 Libyan air and missile
defense targets
* Britain's David Cameron: "We should not stand aside while this dictator
murders his people"
Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- Libyan ruler Moammar Gadhafi called the allied nations
bombing his country "terrorists" Sunday, a day after the United States, United
Kingdom and France began to enforce a United Nations-mandated no-fly zone to
protect Libya's civilians from their leader.
There was violence across the country on Sunday, with Gadhafi apparently
shelling rebels in the west while allied airstrikes destroyed one of Gadhafi's
convoys in the east, according to rebels.
Gadhafi said the strikes were a confrontation between the Libyan people and
"the new Nazis," and promised "a long-drawn war."
"You have proven to the world that you are not civilized, that you are
terrorists -- animals attacking a safe nation that did nothing against you,"
Gadhafi said in a televised speech.
Gadhafi did not appear on screen during the address, leading CNN's Nic
Robertson in Tripoli to speculate that the Libyan leader did not want to give
the allies clues about his location.
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Throughout the address, an image of a golden fist crushing a model plane that
said "USA" filled the screen -- a monument in Tripoli to the 1986 American
bombing of Libya, in which one U.S. plane was downed.
At the same time Gadhafi spoke, his regime was shelling the city of Misrata on
Sunday morning using tanks, artillery and cannons, a witness said.
"They are destroying the city," said the witness, who is not being identified
for safety reasons. He said rebels were fighting back.
Sounds of heavy gunfire could be heard during a telephone conversation with the
man. There was no immediate word on casualties.
CNN's Arwa Damon saw the remains of a convoy of at least 40 military vehicles
destroyed by multiple airstrikes Sunday, leading charred bodies, twisted tanks
and smashed trucks as far as she could see.
Rebels with Damon told her it was a convoy of Libyan troops loyal to Gadhafi
coming to attack the rebel capital of Benghazi.
Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told CNN Sunday there
would be continuous allied air cover of Benghazi.
The no-fly zone is effectively already in place, he said on CNN's "State of the
Union," adding that air attacks by coalition forces have taken out most of
Libya's air defense systems and some airfields.
International military coalition targeted air defense positions near the
capital for a second day Sunday.
Some Libyans welcomed the American, French and British military forces.
Others remained fearful of Gadhafi.
Libyans are "afraid to come out because when they do, he attacked them very,
very severely," a woman in Tripoli said Sunday. "This is putting terror in all
neighborhoods."
The multinational military forces launched the attacks Saturday, convinced that
Gadhafi was not adhering to a cease-fire mandated by the United Nations.
American and British ships and submarines fired more than 110 Tomahawk cruise
missiles and hit about 20 Libyan defense targets in western portions of the
country, U.S. Vice Adm. William Gortney said at a Pentagon briefing.
Nineteen U.S. warplanes, including stealth bombers and fighter jets, conducted
strike operations in Libya on Sunday morning, officials said.
Tomahawk cruise missiles are unmanned and fly close to the ground, steering
around natural and man-made obstacles to hit a target programmed into them
before launch.
U.S. fires missiles on Libya
Gadhafi responds to air strikes
Warplane falls from sky
Libya cease-fire ignored
RELATED TOPICS
* Libya
* United Nations Security Council
* Middle East Conflict
A senior U.S. military official, who was not authorized to speak on the record,
said the cruise missiles landed near the city of Misrata and the capital,
Tripoli.
Scores of missiles were fired in the pre-dawn darkness, and the exact results
of the mission were not immediately clear. The United States is expected to
conduct a damage assessment of the sites.
The salvo, in an operation dubbed "Odyssey Dawn," was meant "to deny the Libyan
regime from using force against its own people," Gortney said.
British Defense Secretary Liam Fox said the Royal Air Force deployed Tornado
GR4 fast jets, which flew 3,000 miles from the United Kingdom and back --
making the venture the longest-range bombing mission conducted by the force
since the Falklands conflict in 1982.
British Prime Minister David Cameron said the international mission "is
necessary, it is legal, and it is right."
"I believe we should not stand aside while this dictator murders his own
people," Cameron said late Saturday night.
But Gadhafi remained defiant, saying Libya will fight back against undeserved
"naked aggression."
In a statement broadcast on state TV, his military said the strikes killed 48
people -- "mostly women, children and religious clerics."
"The majority of these attacks were on public areas, hospitals and schools.
They frightened the children and women near those areas that were subject to
this aggression," the military said.
CNN could not immediately confirm the claim.
But Russia said Sunday that innocent civilians were being killed, and urged
more caution.
The Foreign Ministry in Moscow cited reports that "non-military" targets were
being bombed, including a cardiac center.
"We are calling upon respective nations to stop the indiscriminate use of
force... it is inadmissible to use the mandate resulting from UN Security
Council Resolution 1973, the adoption of which was quite a controversial step,
beyond the intended goals of the resolution, namely the protection of the
civilian population," the ministry said on its website.
China's foreign ministry said Sunday it did not agree with the use of force in
international relations. And Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez also denounced
the military intervention.
"They (the United States) want to appropriate the oil in Libya; they don't care
about anyone's life in that region," Chavez said.
Gadhafi vowed to open weapons depots and said the U.N. charter provides the
nation the right to defend itself in a "war zone." He has also issued messages
to international powers and said Libyans are ready to die for him.
Some residents said they could receive weapons to fight back.
"We received a phone call around 3 a.m. that everyone should head out in the
streets," a woman in Tripoli said. "Normal civilians are being able to have
machine guns and take anti-aircraft machine guns ... to fire back at the
airplanes."
In Misrata, a witness said Gadhafi's forces are targeting fuel and power
stations to make citizens believe the damage is being done by coalition forces.
The witness, who was not identified for security reasons, said people
celebrated allied airstrikes on loyalist positions in the city.
CNN could not verify the account.
U.S. President Barack Obama is planning for the U.S. portion of the military
action in Libya to only last for a few days.
"After that, we'll take more of a supporting role," said a senior
administration official, who was not authorized to speak about sensitive
military matters.
Obama authorized U.S. military force on what happened to be the eighth
anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq.
In the next few days, U.S. military officials expect to hand over control to a
coalition commander. Canada and Italy are also part of the coalition.
Violence has raged in Libya following protests calling for democracy and
demanding an end to Gadhafi's almost 42-year-long rule. The protests have been
met by force from the Gadhafi regime, and some members of his military defected
to the opposition.
Another witness in Tripoli said she's terrified about how Gadhafi might respond
to the airstrikes.
"We're scared. We're not sure what will happen next," she said. "To be honest,
I'm scared for my life."
CNN's Nic Robertson, Arwa Damon, Yousif Basil, Chris Lawrence, Jill Dougherty,
Elise Labott, Ed Henry, Larry Shaughnessy, Jim Bittermann, Paula Newton,
Richard Roth and Maxim Tkachenko contributed to this report.
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