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Qaddafi: I didn't and won't leave Libya

In a recorded statement, Muammar Qaddafi dismissed another round of rumors that he had fled Libya.

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Alexandre Meneghini/AP
Libyan fighters prepare a projectile at the last checkpoint between Tarhouna and Bani Walid, Libya, Thursday, Sept. 8. Thousands of fighters have converged on areas outside Bani Walid and have threatened to attack if residents don't surrender by Saturday. Officials have said the town emerged as a focus because of the number of prominent regime loyalists believed to be inside.
  • By Ariel Zirulnick Correspondent

• The latest updates on Muammar Qaddafi and developments in Libya's war

In an audio recording released today, Muammar Qaddafi denied rumors that he had fled the country and vowed to not leave Libya, Agence France-Presse reports.

In the five-minute-long audio, a man who sounded like Gaddafi denounced reports that he had fled to neighbouring Niger and claimed he is still in Libya.

He called those who ousted him "a bunch of mercenaries, thugs and traitors".

"We are ready to start the fight in Tripoli and everywhere else, and rise up against them," Gaddafi said.

"All of these germs, rats and scumbags, they are not Libyans, ask anyone. They have cooperated with NATO."

He also encouraged his supporters to keep fighting. AFP reports that his loyalists fired rockets Thursday from inside Bani Walid, one of his last remaining strongholds, at anti-Qaddafi fighters in the area surrounding the town.

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