Libyan TV carries audio of Gaddafi taunting NATO

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Libyan state television carried brief audio tape remarks it said were by Muammar Gaddafi in which he taunted NATO as a cowardly crusader whose bombs could not kill him.

The comments were aired on Friday after Italy's foreign minister said Gaddafi had probably left the Libyan capital and been wounded by NATO air strikes. Libyan officials dismissed the Italian minister's remarks.

"I tell the cowardly crusader (NATO) that I live in a place they cannot reach and where you cannot kill me," said the man on the audio tape, whose voice sounded like Gaddafi's.

"Even if you kill the body you will not be able to kill the soul that lives in the hearts of millions," he said.

NATO struck Gaddafi's Bab al-Aziziyah compound in Tripoli on Thursday but government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim said he was unharmed, in good spirits and in Tripoli.

NATO allies including the United States, Britain and France are bombing Libya as part of a U.N. mandate to protect civilians. They say they will not stop until the downfall of the Libyan leader, who took power in a coup 41 years ago.

A NATO air strike on the eastern Libyan city of Brega on Friday that the Libyan government said killed 11 people and wounded 45, was directed against a "command and control bunker," the alliance said in a statement in Brussels.

Libyan state television showed funerals for those killed in Brega being held in the capital on Saturday.

"We are aware of allegations of civilian casualties in connection to this strike and although we cannot independently confirm the validity of the claim, we regret any loss of life by innocent civilians when they occur," said NATO.
 
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