Col Gaddafi said that his people would die to protect him. He laughed at the suggestion he would leave Libya and said that he felt betrayed by the world leaders who had urged him to quit. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice called Gadhafi's assertion that the Libyan people are behind him "delusional." He invited the United Nations and any other organization to come to Libya and do a "fact finding mission" and questioned how they could freeze assets, impose sanctions and an arms embargo, and implement a travel ban based purely on media reports alone. 'Mercenaries and thugs' 
 
 Col Gaddafi was speaking in an interview in Tripoli with BBC Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen, US TV network ABC, and the UK's Sunday Times newspaper. Gadhafi, who has ruled Libya for 41 years, said he felt betrayed by the United States. "When he can laugh in talking to American and international journalists while he is slaughtering his own people, it only underscores how unfit he is to lead and how disconnected he is from reality," Rice said. US President Barack Obama met UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the White House on Monday and both expressed concern at the rising violence and called for a legitimately elected president.
– In Moammar Gadhafi's Libya, the only protesters are a few al-Qaeda-backed, drug-addled Libyans, the rest of his people love him, and he in fact can't step down—and certainly has no intention of doing so. The Libyan leader sat down with ABC's Christiane Amanpour and the BBC's Jeremy Bowen for an hour-long interview today. Some highlights: "They love me. All my people with me, they love me," he said. "They will die to protect me, my people." For world leaders who accuse him of hiding assets abroad, Gadhafi says he'll "put two fingers in their eye." Gadhafi strongly denies that government forces have used violence against Libyans, insisting that government airstrikes destroyed only barracks and ammunition depots. He insists that he cannot step down, as he has no formal position—Gadhafi says that the will of the people, alone, keeps him in power. Given his al-Qaeda theory, Gadhafi is taken aback by the US support for the demonstrators. "I'm surprised that we have an alliance with the West to fight al-Qaeda, and now that we are fighting terrorists they have abandoned us," he said. "Perhaps they want to occupy Libya." US ambassador to the UN Susan Rice said in response that the interview proves Gadhafi is "delusional." "When he can laugh in talking to American and international journalists while he is slaughtering his own people, it only underscores how unfit he is to lead and how disconnected he is from reality."