With rumors swirling about Muammar Qaddafi's whereabouts--Italy's foreign minister is suggesting the Libyan leader has left Tripoli after incurring injuries and a Sky News reporter is wondering whether Qaddafi is holed up in Tripoli's Rixos Hotel--Qaddafi himself, in an audio message on state TV, has just declared that he's alive and delivered a message to the "coward crusaders," as he calls them. "I live in a place where you can't get to me," he said. "I live in the hearts of millions." Qaddafi appeared on state TV on Wednesday amidst speculation that he had been killed in a NATO airstrike on his compound but this is the first time he's spoken since the strike. He said he'd received a "massive" number of calls inquiring about his condition after the strike. Reuters says the voice "sounded like" Qaddafi's but, of course, there was no visual to prove it.

Qaddafi's defiant statement comes as the International Criminal Court prepares to request an arrest warrant for the Libyan leader on Monday and as the White House announces, after a meeting between President Obama and NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, that the U.S. and NATO will continue military operations in Libya as long as Qaddafi continues to attack Libyans.

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at ufriedman at theatlantic dot com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.
Uri Friedman