Thaindian News

Washington, Mar 23 (ANI): Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has spoken out for the first time in a week to assure his loyalists that the regime would defeat the international coalition who are carrying out attacks on his military forces, but US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is of the opinion that the dictator might be secretly considering seeking exile.

Addressing his loyalists in his residence compound near Tripoli, Gaddafi had declared last night that his regime is ready for an entrenched conflict.

“In the short term, we’ll beat them, in the long term, we’ll beat them,” he had said.

The Libyan dictators comments came as the U.S. and European air operations continued over Libya to enforce a U.N.-authorized no-fly zone, Fox News reports.

Clinton, however, said that Gaddafi is not as confident as he appears to be because he is secretly trying to slip out of the back door.

“We’ve heard about other people close to him reaching out to people that they know around the world — Africa, the Middle East, Europe, North America, beyond — saying what do we do? How do we get out of this? What happens next? I’m not aware that he personally has reached out, but I do know that people allegedly on his behalf have been reaching out,” Clinton said.

“A lot of it is just the way he behaves. It’s somewhat unpredictable. But some of it, we think, is exploring. You know, what are my options, where could I go, what could I do,” Clinton said. “And we would encourage that.”

She, however, did not comment whether or not the U.S. believes Gaddafi can be ousted from power. (ANI)