Worldwide censure of Gadhafi builds; Libyan leader called ‘delusional’

Tripoli, Libya (CNN) — International condemnation of Moammar Gadhafi’s use of force against civilians continued to grow Tuesday even as the Libyan leader’s denied the widely documented instances of violence and asserted he was loved throughout the country.

The European Parliament is scheduled to discuss the turmoil in the North African nation Tuesday, a day after the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations said Gadhafi sounded “delusional” and a Libyan woman said protesters will eventually succeed in ousting Gadhafi because “too much blood has been shed.”

And in another act of international condemnation of Gadhafi’s regime, the Libyan Embassy in Washington will take down the Libyan flag Tuesday and replace it with one that flew in Libya before Gadhafi took power in 1969, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Government forces have repeatedly clashed with demonstrators over the past two weeks in Libya, fired on crowds and at times shot indiscriminately at people in the streets, numerous witnesses have told CNN.

It is unclear how many people have died in fighting between government troops and rebels. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said deaths have topped 1,000, while Libya’s ambassador to the United States estimated Monday that the death toll was about 2,000.

The ambassador, Ali Suleiman Aujali, told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer the figure is based on information from Tripoli and telephone calls. He described Gadhafi’s regime as “very cruel.”

“I think we realize that he’s crazy. But we have no alternative,” said Aujali, who has worked as a diplomat for Gadhafi for 40 years. “We have no way to get rid of him until now.”

In a joint interview with ABC News’ Christiane Amanpour and the BBC on Monday, Gadhafi denied using force against his peoples.

“No demonstration at all in the streets,” he said, speaking at a restaurant in Tripoli.

Told by the BBC’s Jeremy Bowen that he had seen demonstrators in the streets that morning, Gadhafi asked, “Are they supporting us?”

“They love me, all my people with me, they love me all. They will die to protect me, my people,” he said.

Soon after Gadhafi’s interview, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said the Libyan strongman sounded “delusional.”

“And 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,” she said.

A witness in Misrata, who is not being identified for security reasons, said Gadhafi’s claims are inconsistent and nonsensical.

“Gadhafi has been making all kinds of things … at one moment, he’s saying that all of the Libyan people are taking hallucinogens. Another moment he’s saying that we’re all members of al Qaeda and that we’re extremist Muslims. He’s all over the place,” she said.

“Libyans are not members of al Qaeda — that’s absolutely ridiculous. And not everyone’s on drugs here. We’re fighting for our basic rights — the right to freedom, the right to education, the right to health care, the right to clean water. The right to — just basic human rights, and that we will continue to fight until this regime falls.”

Gadhafi’s regime has lost control of parts of the country to rebel forces, and with each passing day more Libyan officials around the world have defected, joining calls for his ouster.

The use of the term “rebel” to describe the anti-government forces is apt, said Kurt Volker, former U.S. ambassador to NATO and now a senior fellow at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Forces.

“In Egypt, you didn’t have a force that was developed; you had protesters who were demonstrating against the government and the government relented,” he told CNN. “Here, you actually have a government that retains force at its disposal and you have demonstrators joined by elements of the military that have forces at their disposal. So it really has become an armed rebellion.”

Even as Gadhafi sought to project confidence Monday, reports came in that a military jet bombed a military base in an area controlled by rebel forces.

The base is near Ajdabiya, 90 miles south of Benghazi, a stronghold of government opponents. Some bases in the area have fallen into the hands of protesters as more members of the military have abandoned Gadhafi’s regime and joined demonstrations.

Several soldiers told CNN they switched their allegiance after refusing to use weapons against peaceful demonstrators.

CNN saw the military jet fly overhead and heard the sounds of explosions. Witnesses reported a bombing at the base.

But Libyan state television later denied any such bombing had occurred. The Temporary General Committee for Defense said reports that the Libyan air force conducted strikes on the ammunition depots in the cities of Ajdabiya and Rajima were false, state TV reported.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said at a meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, of the U.N. Human Rights Council that the United States is exploring “all possible options,” and that “nothing is off the table so long as the Libyan government continues to threaten and kill Libyan citizens.”

Asked at a news conference Monday whether the U.S. planned an imminent military response, Clinton said, “No.”

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Monday that “exile is certainly one option” for Gadhafi. Carney also said the U.S. government is considering the possibility of imposing a no-fly zone over Libya.

On Monday, the United States became the latest country to announce it had frozen Gadhafi-related assets. The U.S. government froze at least $30 billion in Libyan government assets under U.S jurisdiction after enacting sanctions on Friday. It marked the largest amount ever blocked under a sanctions program, said Acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David Cohen.

In Tripoli, protesters stayed off the streets on Monday, telling CNN they feared violence. Government officials spread word that thousands of people could die if the popular uprising continues. Some in Tripoli told CNN they feared their protest movement was losing momentum.

The protests, which began February 15, have been fueled largely by people demanding freedom and decrying high unemployment. They follow demonstrations in Tunisia and Egypt, two countries that have seen their leaders overthrown in the wave of protests that has swept through the Arab world over the past several weeks.

The witness in Misrata said she thinks Gadhafi’s time is almost over.

“This regime has been here for 42 years, and it’s reached its end. I’m confident that the regime will fall soon — if not today, then tomorrow, and if not tomorrow, then the next week or two or three. But his time has come to an end. … Too much blood has been shed.”

CNN’s Nic Robertson, Ivan Watson, Anderson Cooper, Ben Wedeman, Eve Bower, Salma Abdelaziz, Richard Roth, Tom Watkins, Jack Maddox, Whitney Hurst and Nkepile Mabuse contributed to this report