Broadcasts from Colonel Gaddafi have provided the Libyan revolution with one of its more bizarre features.
Whether denying his downfall, urging his followers to fight, or decrying members of Nato as “rats”, the deposed leader is never short of a word or two, especially those relating to rodents.
Here we list the some of the Colonel’s most recent bellicose blustering as he adjusts to life as Libya’s former leader.
A “charade”, he exclaimed on Tuesday in reference to his removal by the National Transitional Council (NTC) in a broadcast made on the Syrian-based Al-Rai TV on 20 September.
"What is happening in Libya is a charade … gaining its legitimacy through airstrikes that will not last forever."
"It's hard to bring down this regime because it represents millions of Libyans."
The tyrant was in equally pugnacious form on 8 September.
Defiantly referring to himself in the third person, he declared, "Gaddafi won't leave the land of his ancestors. We are ready to start the fight in Tripoli and everywhere else, and rise up against them."
He then turned his ire on the rebel forces: "All of these germs, rats and scumbags, they are not Libyans, ask anyone. They have co-operated with Nato."
Equally stern vitriol was directed at the Europeans: "They are all germs and rats - they are not Libyan. Capture them. Nato will retreat defeated. The Libyan people are marching in their millions, in the streets and in the cities."
"The youths are now ready to escalate the resistance against the rats in Tripoli and to finish off the mercenaries. We will defeat Nato ... Nato is rejected by the Libyan people.”
On the same day, Gaddafi’s voice is reported to have been played on a loop via loudspeakers in the town of Bani Walid.
“This is zero hour,” he said. “Those who don’t fight will go to hell.”
The beginning of September found the Colonel in particularly quarrelsome mood. "We won't surrender again; we are not women. We will keep fighting," he said.
Referring to the tribes in Sirte and Bani Walid, he said: "There is no way they will submit," adding: "The battle will be long and let Libya burn."
A second recording, broadcast on the same day, started off with a more measured tone, calling for “a long insurgency”. The despot then returned to his more combative stance: "We will fight them everywhere. We will burn the ground under their feet."
He added that Nato was trying to occupy Libya and steal its oil.
"Get ready to fight the occupation ... Get ready for a long war, imposed on us," he said. "Get ready for the guerrilla war."
He finished by calling Sirte "the capital of the resistance."
In late August, Gadaffi’s son, also then in hiding, kicked off the lunacy with a wandering diatribe about the NTC and Nato.
The former regime official, who had been widely tipped to take over from his father, pressed Libyans loyal to Gaddafi to take up arms, vowing to “liberate the Green Square”.
"We assure people we are here, ready and in good shape,” he said, claiming to be speaking on a phone from the outskirts of Tripoli.
“We want to tell the people we are present, the resistance is continuing and victory is near. We are going to die in our land. We would like to assure people that we are steadfast and the commander is doing well."
"Every Libyan is Muammar Gaddafi, every Libyan is Saif al-Islam. Wherever you find yourself face-to-face with the enemy, fight him."
"We are fine. The leadership is fine and the leader is fine. We are happy, we are drinking coffee and tea with our companions and we are fighting."