Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi warned on Wednesday that the region would be engulfed in chaos, spreading to Israel's doorstep, if Al-Qaeda takes control of his country.
"If Al-Qaeda manages to seize Libya, then the entire region, up to Israel, will be at the prey of chaos," he said in an interview with Turkey's public TRT television channel.
"The international community is now beginning to understand that we have to prevent Osama Bin Laden from taking control of Libya and Africa," he added.
On the international debate over whether to impose a no-fly zone over Libya to prevent his forces from attacking rebels from the air, the Libyan leader paradoxically said he was in favour of the move.
He said that if the no-fly zone would allow "Libyans to see through the real intentions (of the international community) -- to seize our oil -- and then they would take up arms (to defend the country)."
Gaddafi, who took power in a 1969 coup, once again insisted he had no intention of stepping down, saying he was not the de facto leader of the country.
"Since 1977, the Libyan people have held the power," he said speaking in Arabic, translated into Turkish.
Gaddafi ,styled himself 'guide of the revolution' from 1977, saying power was held 'by the masses' via elected people's committees.
Despite widespread unrest in several regions of the country, Kadhafi insisted that "peace and security hold sway in a large part of Libya."
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