Libya witnessed another day of chaos on Wednesday, as a defiant Muammar Gaddafi refused to step down in the face of widespread protests, calling instead for his supporters to "cleanse" the country "house by house".
Calling those who stand against him "rats" and "mercenaries", he said during a televised address on Tuesday that he would fight to the last drop of blood, and that he would rather die "a martyr" than quit office.
On Wednesday, Franco Frattini, the Italian foreign minister, said that reports of 1,000 people being killed in a violent anti-government crackdown on protests that has raged since February 17th were "credible".
Al Jazeera's Lawrence Lee reports.
Content on this website is for general information purposes only. Your comments are provided by your own free will and you take sole responsibility for any direct or indirect liability. You hereby provide us with an irrevocable, unlimited, and global license for no consideration to use, reuse, delete or publish comments, in accordance with Community Rules & Guidelines and Terms and Conditions.