Gaddafi's daughter Aisha whips crowds into a frenzy as she calls on West to 'leave our skies'

Gaddafi's daughter Aisha whips crowds into a frenzy as she calls on West to 'leave our skies' - Muammar Gaddafi's daughter today defied the West's demand that her father leave power, dubbing it an 'insult' to all Libyans.

'In 1911 Italy killed my grandfather in an air strike and now they are trying to kill my father. God damn their hands,' Aisha Gaddafi told a flag-waving crowd gathered at her father's Bab Al-Aziziyah compound in the capital.

The event, broadcast live on state television, marked the 25th anniversary of American strikes on the huge complex, which includes military barracks.

Rabble-rouser-in-chief: Aisha Gaddafi told crowds in Tripoli her father would not flee and that the West should stop bombing Libya

Ms Gaddafi, wearing a green headscarf and black leather jacket, said she had been five years old at the time.

'They rained down on us their missiles and bombs, they tried to kill me and they killed dozens of children in Libya,' she said, her speech interrupted several times by the cheering crowd.

'Now a quarter of a century later the same missiles and bombs are raining down on the heads of my and your children.'

At a meeting in Doha yesterday, a Western and Middle-Eastern states called for the first time for Gaddafi to step aside.

Faithful: Supporters of Colonel Gaddafi chant slogans as they listen to Ms Gaddafi speak

Support: The rally came as Cameron, Obama and Sarkozy vowed to drive Gaddafi out

'Talk about Gaddafi stepping down is an insult to all Libyans because Gaddafi is not in Libya, but in the hearts of all Libyans,' his daughter said.

Addressing the Western powers who are carrying out air strikes under a U.N. resolution to protect civilians against her father's forces, she said: 'Who are the civilians you are protecting? Are they the people who have automatic weapons and hand grenades? Are they the innocent civilians you are trying to protect?'

A rebel supporter in the western city of Misrata, which is besieged by government troops and scene of daily clashes, dismissed her speech as a sign of despair.

'Gaddafi ruled Libya with an iron fist for 41 years and killed anyone who tried to oppose him,' Marwan, 22, said.

Close protection: Ms Gaddafi leaves flanked by her bodyguards after her speech, which marked the 25th anniversary of American strikes on her father's complex

Anger: Colonel Gaddafi's supporters gave rapturous applause as his daughter spoke, interrupting her speech in several places

'What she said is a sign of the despair of the Gaddafi family and his inner circle. They know their days are numbered,' he told Reuters by phone from the coastal city.

Meanwhile, Arab television channel al-Arabiya reported that Libyan defector Musa Kusa wants to remain in Qatar, where he is reportedly a guest of the emirate’s royal family after being allowed to flee earlier this week.

Britain lifted sanctions against Kusa earlier in the week to allow him to fly to Doha for a summit on the future of Libya.

But rebel leaders refused to meet him because of his ‘human rights record’.

Civil war: Fighting continues in the east of Libya. Here a rebel fighter mans an anti-aircraft machine gun atop a pick-up truck as he scans the sky over the front-line near Ajdabiyah

Rag tag army: A Libyan rebel fighter smokes a cigarette next to a multiple rocket launcher in the back of a pickup truck, as the rebels prepare to make an advance

Yesterday, the European Union also lifted the ban against Colonel Gaddafi’s former foreign minister and unfroze his assets – meaning Kusa could access any funds he has hidden abroad.

The latest act of appeasement towards the man once branded Gaddafi’s ‘envoy of terror’ coincided with reports he may go on the run to avoid trial for his alleged involvement in the Lockerbie bombing.

Kusa defected to the UK last month with the connivance of MI6 and has since been questioned by Scottish police about his knowledge of the 1988 attack.

Flight: Musa Kusa could stay in Qatar and avoid trial for his alleged involvement in the Lockerbie bombing

Britain’s worst terrorist atrocity took place while Kusa was Colonel Gaddafi’s chief of intelligence.

He is also thought to have information about the murder of WPC Yvonne Fletcher in 1984. One report last night said: ‘Musa Kusa has decided to stay in Qatar due to worries that the relatives of Libyan terror attack victims want him prosecuted.’

Foreign Office sources said they expect Kusa to return to the UK but were unable to say when.

If he does fail to reappear it will fuel the suspicion he has manipulated the government in order to escape sanctions and justice.

A member of the Government told the Mail: ‘It looks like he is refusing to come back.

‘It looks like he has played us like a violin.’

Kusa has been granted a six-month visa to stay in Britain. The Foreign Office sought to justify the leniency shown to Kusa by arguing it would encourage others to abandon the Gaddafi regime.

‘Sanctions are introduced to invoke behavioural change and as Musa Kusa has chosen to leave the regime he is no longer sanctioned in this way,’ a spokesman said.

But critics expressed disgust at the move.

Tory MP Robert Halfon, whose family fled Libya when Gaddafi seized power, said: ‘If Mr Kusa does any travelling, he should be getting on a plane to the Hague to face the international criminal court for war crimes.

Ranting: Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi shown on the streets of Tripoli yesterday

‘If he does have any assets squirrelled away I hope that they will be handed to the victims of the Lockerbie bombing.’

Yesterday forces loyal to Gaddafi shelled the besieged western city of Misrata, killing at least 13 people.

To the west, NATO airstrikes shook Tripoli as the U.S. told a meeting the alliance must intensify its mission to isolate the Libyan leader and ‘bring about his departure’.

Libyan state television showed footage of Gaddafi defiantly pumping his fists as he stood through the sun roof of a car moving through the streets of the capital.

Pilots of the RAF’s Typhoon warplanes cannot hone their skills due to shortages of spare parts for the aircraft, it has emerged.A damning report by the Commons’ Public Accounts Committee found crew were unable to put in enough flying hours to maintain sharpness in the cockpit because of a lack of jets.It also condemned the billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money squandered because of MoD blunders procuring the jets.The report declared: ‘Problems with the availability of spares mean Typhoons are not flying the hours required. The RAF grounds pilots if they are unable to obtain enough flying hours to keep their skills up to date.’

( dailymail.co.uk )