Gaddafi vows to fight on, die a martyr

Cairo:  Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi vows to fight on and die a "martyr," calling on his supporters to take back the streets from protesters demanding his ouster, shouting and pounding his fist in a furious speech Tuesday on state TV.

Gaddafi, swathed in brown robes and turban, spoke from a podium set up in the entrance of a bombed out building that appeared to be his Tripoli residence hit by U.S. airstrikes in the 1980s and left unrepaired as a monument of defiance. The speech, which appeared to have been taped earlier, was aired on a screen to hundreds of supporters massed in Tripoli's central Green Square.

Shouting in the rambling speech, he declared himself "a warrior" and proclaimed, "Libya wants glory, Libya wants to be at the pinnacle, at the pinnacle of the world."

At times the camera panned out to show a towering gold-colored monument in front of the building, showing a fist crushing a fighter jet with an American flag on it - a view that also gave the strange image of Gaddafi speaking alone from behind a podium in the building's crumbling lobby, with no audience in front of him.

"I am a fighter, a revolutionary from tents... I will die as a martyr at the end," he said. "I have not yet ordered the use of force, not yet ordered one bullet to be fired... when I do, everything will burn."

Gaddafi depicted the protesters as misguided youths, who had been given drugs and money by a "small, sick group" to attack police and government buildings. He called on supporters to take to the streets immediately to reimpose control and to attack the protest leaders.

"You men and women who love Gaddafi... get out of your homes and fill the streets," he said. 

"Leave your homes and attack them in their lairs. They are taking your children and getting them drunk and sending them to death. For what? To destroy Libya, burn Libya."

"The police cordons will be lifted, go out and fight them," he said, urging youth to form local committees across the country "for the defense of the revolution and the defense of Gaddafi," even asking them to wear green armbands.

"Let us show them what the popular revolution is like," he said. "Go out from your homes starting now."

Tripoli has been torn by two nights of bloodshed as pro-Gaddafi militiamen cracked down on protesters. Across the country, at least 250 people have been killed in a week of unrest.

Sorce:- http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/gaddafi-vows-to-fight-on-die-a-martyr-87167?cp

Budget session begins today, BJP ready to attack

New Delhi:  The government has been hoping for a smoother Parliament session than the last after giving in to the Opposition's demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) inquiry into the 2G spectrum scam, but an aggressive Bharatiya Janata Party has upped the ante. It is all set to confront Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the floor of the House. The Budget session begins today. 

 

Speaking exclusively to NDTV, Arun Jaitley, the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, said that the Budget session would be a "session of accountability".

 

Speaking on the slew of corruption charges and scams, especially the 2G spectrum scam, that have cornered the UPA government, Jaitley said the Prime Minister and his government had a lot of questions to answer.  "What was the Prime Minister doing for the last three years when this huge case of corruption was on?" Jaitley asked.

 

He said a mere statement from the Prime Minister would not do and severely criticised Manmohan Singh for saying that the decision to appoint A Raja as Telecom Minister was forced on him by the compulsions of coalition politics.

"Where is the principle of collective responsibility? Is this a leader of the team which runs away from the battlefield and says, well, 'I did not make him a minister...I did not allocate the portfolio...somebody else compelled me to do that under compulsion'...?" Jaitley said.

 

The BJP's stinging attack on the government follows the Prime Minister's statement on Sunday expressing hope of a "peaceful, productive" Budget session after the all-party meet convened by the Speaker, where it the Centre agreed to the demand for a JPC on the 2G spectrum scam.

 

"We are looking forward to a fruitful and productive session of Parliament. The government on its part is ready to discuss any issue which may be brought by the Opposition. So I am hopeful this will be a peaceful productive session. Lot of legislative work has to be accomplished...the Budget of the Central government has to be passed and this therefore is truly the most important session of Parliament," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said after the all-party meet.

 

The government's no to a JPC inquiry into the 2G spectrum scam had led to a complete paralysis of Parliament in the Winter session, with less than 10 hours of business being conducted.

Source:-http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/budget-session-begins-today-bjp-ready-to-attack-86725