A top official of Muammar Gaddafi’s authoritative son Saif has resigned amid the strong stance of the Libyan premier to crush any rebels which could threaten his rule of four decades.
To express his despair against violence, the aide to Saif, Youssef Sawani, resigned from the Gaddafi Foundation as executive director of an organization which is the main tool for exerting pressure against the people of Libya.
Gaddafi, boldly defiant in his long drifting speech, revealed that he was willing to die like a martyr in his country and asked his followers to crush any rebel that is bringing turbulence to the country.
Dressed in brown colored robes Gaddafi was full of anger and slammed a podium that was damaged in a US air strike in 1986 which was targeted to assassinate him; a monument was standing close to him which showed a fist smashing a US fighter jet.
Refusing to surrender to requests from a few of the ministers of his own government, he clearly stated on state television that he will not leave his country and will die like a martyr. Protests in Tunisia and Egypt have toppled the governments but Gaddafi was confident that he would not be forced out by protestors from this oil producing land stretching from Mediterranean Sea to the Sahara desert.
Since taking charge in a military coup in 1969, Gaddafi has ruled with a mix of strong control and populism over a country that is mostly a desert but is rich in oil.
The United Nations Security Council in New York has disapproved resorting to violence and asked for accountability of those who have attacked or hurt civilians.
The disturbance in Libya has increased the price of Brent crude oil to over $108 per barrel and sparked one of the worst day for Wall Street.
Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, remarked that United States will take required steps in due time and White House urged the international powers to make their voices heard against the violence in Libya.