Gadhafi says ready to die at any moment

TRIPOLI - Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi said in a televised speech on Thursday that he would not surrender to NATO forces while accusing French President Nicolas Sarkozy of being a "war criminal".

"This Sarkozy is a war criminal who has stained the history of the French nation and destroyed his country's ties with Libya and Muslim countries," Gadhafi said in a message to supporters.

He said that he would not give up, and he was ready "to die at any moment."

Gadhafi called on his supporters to prepare to march to Misurata and Benghazi and the western mountains.

"We are ready for martyrdom and death at every moment," Gadhafi said in an audio broadcast through the Libyan State TV to his supporters gathering in an area, 79 km west of Tripoli.

It is the fourth audio recording of Gadhafi's speech in the past two months.

France was the first country to recognize the rebels' National Transitional Council (NTC) as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people. French parliament decided on Tuesday to extend the military intervention in Libya, which entered the fourth month.