Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has said his people are preparing for a long war and will defeat the Western nations which have attacked his forces with air strikes.
Gaddafi, in power for four decades, sounded defiant, saying repeatedly he would not be forced out of by a "crusader alliance" led by the US, Britain and France.
"This is a crusader war against the Muslim people, especially against the Libyan people. They believe they will terrify the Libyan people. These are only terrorist means, and only the forces on the ground will be victorious," he said.
"They will be inevitably defeated. They will not be able to make the people give in. All the people are now carrying weapons. We will fight you if you continue your aggression against us," Gaddafi said in a speech broadcast on Libyan television.
The television station carried only the sound of Gaddafi's voice, without pictures. "You are terrorists. You are fighting a people that hasn't invited you. Libya has become a hell in the face of enemies. This is an unjustified aggression. We will not leave our land and we will liberate it," the dictator said.
He added: "We will not let America and France and Britain or allied forces enjoy our oil."
