Gadhafi Says Regime Will Not Fall, NATO Must Pull Back

Embattled Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi said in an audio message relayed to supporters on Friday that his regime will not fall and told NATO to stop attacking his troops.

"The regime in Libya will not fall -- it is based on the people, not on Gadhafi. NATO is wrong if it thinks it can topple the regime of this country," he said in the message to thousands of supporters in Sabha, some 750 kilometers south of Tripoli.

"This gathering of more than a million people is a new message to Europe, to the crusaders and colonialists: the regime does not belong to Gadhafi, it is the people's regime and the people will not give up an inch of its land or bow down to invaders," he said.

"Our only choice is resistance: we are on home ground and are not afraid of your war machine," a defiant Gadhafi told his supporters in Sabha, the desert stronghold of his clan, addressing NATO directly.

He added that the NATO-led air strikes on his forces must cease, and Libyans should be left "all alone" to solve their own problems.

Gadhafi last week threatened retaliation against Europe unless NATO ceases its operations, saying forces loyal to him can launch stinging attacks like "locusts and bees."

At the time he vowed that his forces will defeat NATO and called on European leaders to talk to his people "and heads of tribes" to find a solution to the protracted crisis, saying he was ready to help.

"The people are masters of their own destiny. Discuss with them a solution to the crisis and I will help you," he said.