Reporting from Cairo \u2014 A defiant Libyan strongman Moammar Kadafi vowed Tuesday not to resign and denounced the anti-government protesters who have challenged his regime as “greasy rats” and “drug-fueled mice” who deserve to be executed.<\/p>\n
“These gangs are cockroaches,” he said. “They’re nothing. They’re not one percent of the Libyan people.”<\/p>\n
In a lengthy address on state TV, Kadafi, who has ruled since 1969, stood in the ruins of a barracks in Tripoli that was bombed by U.S. warplanes in 1986. He waved his fist and shouted, vowing to die a martyr and urging his supporters to rise up to help the military crush the popular uprising.<\/p>\n
The U.N. Security Council called an emergency meeting as Libya descended into further chaos Tuesday amid reports that Kadafi’s regime used warplanes, helicopter gunships and foreign mercenaries against mounting anti-government protests, witnesses and diplomats said.<\/p>\n