Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has said he is willing "to die a martyr" and repeated that "has a legitimate right" to remain in power and continue to lead the government.

Gaddafi was making a public statement in which he announced "major reforms."

Military offensive continues

The Libyan leader used tanks, helicopters and warplanes to fight a growing revolt, witnesses said on Tuesday, as the veteran leader scoffed at reports he was fleeing after four decades in power.

Warplanes bombed portions of the capital Tripoli on Tuesday in new attacks in the Mediterranean coastal city, and mercenaries fired on civilians, Al Jazeera reported.

In the eastern town of Al Bayda, resident Marai Al Mahry told Reuters by telephone that 26 people including his brother Ahmed had been shot dead overnight by Gaddafi loyalists. "They shoot you just for walking on the street," he said, sobbing uncontrollably as he appealed for help.

Protesters were being attacked with tanks and warplanes, he said. "The only thing we can do now is not give up, no surrender, no going back. We will die anyways, whether we like it or not. It is clear that they don''t care whether we live or not. This is genocide," said Mahry, 42.

Hundred of refugees streamed into Egypt on Tuesday, piled onto tractors and trucks, describing a wave of killing and banditry unleashed by the revolt. "Five people died on the street where I live," Mohamed Jalaly, 40, told Reuters at Salum on his way to Cairo from Benghazi. "You leave Benghazi and then you have ... nothing but gangs and youths with weapons," he added. "The way from Benghazi is extremely dangerous," he said.

Security forces have cracked down fiercely on demonstrators across the country, with fighting now spreading to Tripoli after erupting in Libya''s oil-producing east last week, in a reaction to decades of repression and following uprisings that have toppled leaders in Tunisia and Egypt.

Human Rights Watch says at least 233 people have been killed and opposition groups put the figure much higher but independent verification is impossible.

The revolt in OPEC member Libya has driven oil prices sharply higher, with U.S. crude for April delivery rising at one stage to almost $99, around a two-and-a-half-year high.

As the fighting has intensified across the country, cracks appeared among Gaddafi supporters. Some ambassadors resigning and calling for his removal, the justice minister resigned in protest and a group of army officers urged soldiers to "join the people". Two pilots flew their warplanes to nearby Malta.
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