Gadhafi: His government won't be ousted

BANI WALID, Libya, Sept. 20 (UPI) -- An audio message ostensibly from deposed Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi said his political system represented the people and would not be ousted.

The message was broadcast Tuesday on Syria-based al-Rai TV, a pro-Gadhafi television station, CNN reported.

The broadcast aired as the National Transitional Council said its forces entered the city of Sabah, considered a Gadhafi stronghold. Witnesses said the troops encountered no resistance.

The message purported to be from Gadhafi also came as NTC troops planned an assault on Bani Walid, another of Gadhafi's dwindling bastions of support, a National Transitional Council spokesman told CNN.

"Our fighters are planning a massive attack today to bring the siege to an end," Abdallah Kenshil said.

The broadcast message said Gadhafi supporters mock the idea that the ruler and his government could be removed.

"This wonderful system is impossible [to] be overthrown," the speaker said. "There is a regime that is being forced on the Libyan people by air and naval bombardment. This is a joke, and its legitimacy is hanging in the air, tied up with bombs and NATO planes that will not last. "

The NTC said Gadhafi loyalists are creating a humanitarian disaster in Bani Walid by looting grocery stores and shooting anyone trying to join the revolution.

"They are carrying out mass killings," NTC military spokesman Col. Ahmed Bani said. "This proves they are trying to destroy the town before it is liberated."

Bani said the city was surrounded by Gadhafi forces. When asked by CNN why NTC forces didn't immediately enter the city in the face of a humanitarian disaster, Bani said "geography" posed a problem and the NTC forces were using tactics to try to reduce casualties.

In Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte, more than 20 NTC fighters were killed and 31 others injured in fighting Sunday, the NTC said Monday.

"The injured revolutionaries in Sirte have all been hit with RPGs [rocket-propelled grenades] fired from areas congested with civilians where Gadhafi loyalists are hiding," said Adel Ghulaek, an NTC spokesman in Misurata. "Our men are not even firing back because they do not want to kill any innocent people."

Turkish officials said one of two planes carrying aid to civilians was fired upon by anti-aircraft weapons Sunday. In a statement, Turkish officials said the planes completed their mission successfully.