Gaddafi warns of plot to colonize Libya

Even as calls for the intervention of the U.S. and the western forces in the Libyan crisis gained momentum, besieged Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has said there is a foreign plot to colonize his country.

According to Al Jazeera, Gaddafi said his forces captured several foreigners on Monday. Yesterday, the mosque that the security forces regained power over, they had in this mosque, they had weapons and alcohol has well. Some of them come from Afghanistan, some of them come from Egypt, some of them come from Algeria, just to misguide our children, he said on the state TV on Tuesday, reported the Doha-based channel.

There are signs the Obama administration is taking extreme caution before deciding on the enforcement of a no-fly zone over the civil war-torn country though pressure for U.S. action is increasing. The U.S. lawmakers are still vertically split on the immediate U.S. policy direction on Libya.

Scott Brown, Republican Senator and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, disagreed with Senator John McCain on this issue, saying the U.S. should move with extreme caution before committing an armed involvement in Libya.

The Obama administration is also hesitant about getting snared in a long-term conflict in another Muslim country.

Gaddafi blasted foreign and 'terrorist' involvement in the crisis sweeping through the country after the rebels served an ultimatum for him to step down in 72 hours.

There have been reports that Gaddafi is willing to strike a deal with the rebels given his conditions for exit were met. He reportedly sought assurances that war crimes charges against him will be dropped and he and his family would be allowed to exit safely with their money. However, the Libyan state TV has said these reports are wrong.

Even as the rebels sought western action to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya, which would protect them against air attacks by forces loyal to Gaddafi, rebel-held cities came under vicious air attacks on Tuesday as Gaddafi pushed hard to regain control of the country's east.