TRIPOLI, March 22 (Xinhua) -- Libyan leader Mouammar Gaddafi made his first public appearance in a week near Tripoli late Tuesday, vowing to fight on, while France and other West countries were busy creating a new body to take over the lead in the current intervention in Libya.
Libya's state TV showed that Gaddafi appeared on a balcony before a crowd of supporters at his residence compound near the Libyan capital of Tripoli.
The compound, located in Bab Al-Aziziya, was struck by a cruise missile in Sunday night's bombing by Western forces.
The TV footage showed Gadhafi making a short live address to his supporters. "Be it long or short, we're ready for battle," he said.
Hours earlier, heavy explosions and intensive anti-aircraft fire resounded over Tripoli. The distant explosions, whose exact locations remained unknown, started at around 8:30 p.m. local time (1830 GMT), and shortly shells trailing orange flames were seen fired into the dark air.
The blasts appeared to be a new round of U.S. and European-led military strikes hitting Tripoli after nightfall, following similar operations starting Saturday that aimed to create a no-fly zone over Libya.
But when Gaddafi maintained confident in grabbing the final victory in the confrontation, the Western forces seemed also determined in their aligned mission.