<p>"The decision has been taken. Prepare yourselves. We will arrive tonight," Gadhafi said on state television.<br /><br />"We will chase the traitors from Benghazi," he told his troops. "Destroy their fortifications. Show them no mercy. The world needs to see Benghazi free."<br /><br />Meanwhile, he said "those who surrender and throw down their arms will be saved."<br />Sticking to recurring claims throughout the month-old rebellion that Al-Qaeda is behind it, Gadhafi said "we will hunt down the miscreants and bearded ones that have destroyed out country and we will punish them without mercy."<br /><br />"We will also punish the mercenaries who have served them," he added, without saying to whom he was referring.<br /><br />Gadhafi said the insurgents "take their strength from lies, and you do not have to spare them."<br /><br />Touching on another recurring theme of his public statements about the rebels, he said they needed to be "hunted down in every neighbourhood, every street, every house."<br />Gadhafi, who came to power in a bloodless 1969 coup against Libya's monarchy, said "I freed Benghazi with my rifle, and Benghazi will not betray me. Tomorrow Benghazi will be free."<br /><br />He accused the rebels of using people who had fled from prisons, criminals and murderers to do the "traitorous acts."<br /><br />This "handful of drug addicts and criminals are in the process of making a racket so that the Americans and the Europeans can come into hour houses, humiliate you and stain your honour."</p>
<p>"The decision has been taken. Prepare yourselves. We will arrive tonight," Gadhafi said on state television.<br /><br />"We will chase the traitors from Benghazi," he told his troops. "Destroy their fortifications. Show them no mercy. The world needs to see Benghazi free."<br /><br />Meanwhile, he said "those who surrender and throw down their arms will be saved."<br />Sticking to recurring claims throughout the month-old rebellion that Al-Qaeda is behind it, Gadhafi said "we will hunt down the miscreants and bearded ones that have destroyed out country and we will punish them without mercy."<br /><br />"We will also punish the mercenaries who have served them," he added, without saying to whom he was referring.<br /><br />Gadhafi said the insurgents "take their strength from lies, and you do not have to spare them."<br /><br />Touching on another recurring theme of his public statements about the rebels, he said they needed to be "hunted down in every neighbourhood, every street, every house."<br />Gadhafi, who came to power in a bloodless 1969 coup against Libya's monarchy, said "I freed Benghazi with my rifle, and Benghazi will not betray me. Tomorrow Benghazi will be free."<br /><br />He accused the rebels of using people who had fled from prisons, criminals and murderers to do the "traitorous acts."<br /><br />This "handful of drug addicts and criminals are in the process of making a racket so that the Americans and the Europeans can come into hour houses, humiliate you and stain your honour."</p>