The website of the defunct Allibiya state television channel quoted Gaddafi as saying in a speech, "Heroes have resisted and fallen as martyrs and we too are awaiting martyrdom," as broadcast on the local radio in Bani Walid, one of his last remaining bastions.

The toppled despot hailed the fierce resistance put up by his loyalists in Bani Walid, a desert city, 170 kilometres (105 miles) southeast of Tripoli, which has resisted a bloody siege by forces of the National Transitional Council for several weeks.

The region's Warfalla tribe was a major source of recruitment for the elite troops of Gaddafi’s regime and the strongman told its members that they were continuing in that martial tradition.

"Through your jihad, you are imitating the exploits of your ancestors," he said.

"You should know that I am on the ground with you. They lie when they say Gaddafi is in Venezuela or Gaddafi is in Niger. I am among my people and an unexpected shock awaits this clique of agents in the coming days."