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>> and now, "bbc world news." >> in defiant mood. colonel muammar qaddafi says he would rather die than give up power. >> i cannot leave the hon. soil of my country. i will die a marder at the end. >> with law-and-order fracking down in parts of the country, there are fears of an all out civil war. 75 feared dead and thousands more are still trapped. welcome to "bbc news". good to have you with this. death on the high seas. four american sailors taken hostage off the somali and coasts are killed by their captors.

>> having lost control of large parts of eastern libya, the protestors still calling for his overthrow, colonel qadafi is giving a defiant speech. he branded his enemies cockroaches and vowed he would never stand down. our correspondent reports. first to the east of the country. our correspondent is one of the first foreign journalists to enter the region and he sends this report. >> delirious scenes of joye in eastern libya where the opposition is in control. they're flying a new flag, the old royal flag. they have defaced col. gad

dafi's picture. there are no representatives of the hated government anywhere near here. we found a series of opposition militias in control and it is the same story for hundreds of miles around. anyone associated with him has fled. even the army and police have abandoned him here. on the egyptian side of the border, it is almost as crazy. four of these are egyptians, thousands of migrant workers escaping from the mayhem that is libya today. it is a massacre. in the name of god, it is a massacre. the shock of what you see, you cannot go outside to get food. you just turned straight back. locals strong around us to express their fury against colonel gaddafi. >> he destroyed libya now.

please help us. >> everyone believes he is finished but they fear he will terrible vengeance before he is forced from power. >> let's get more on these days advance -- events. our course on the reports. -- correspondent reports. >> their defiance is bewildering. they have shot at, even bomb. hundreds may have died. they are still ready to take to the streets. what the one is a new government and the chance to earn a decent living. col. gaddafi appears ready for a fight. he appeared in the ruins of his old barracks.

a speech as long as it is defined. >> i cannot leave the hon. soil of my country. i will die and martyr -- a martyr. security should be established through the police and the army. police and the police should impose security. all road blocks should be revoked. chase them everywhere. >> an hour and a quarter later with darkness falling, he finished as defiant as he is always been. a stage manage performance unlikely to convince many outside a loyal few. it is impossible to know how many still support the government. certainly they have managed the daily appearance in the state media. the picture emerging is of a government facing more resistance that has known. the so-called people's hall,

home to what passes for parliament, attacked and burned. the symbolism of what happened is striking. details are hard to come by. the videos and reports suggest a heavy military presence in the capitol with some suburbs virtually closed off and horrific stories of callous violence. >> i am a medical doctor and walking in a hospital and i see lots of people dying. they and force the regime -- enforce the regime. there is a lot of people and it was a massacre especially yesterday and the day before. >> the defections and the unrest seemed to have spurred on the protests. his order for the army and police seemed unlikely it would

be heeded. what is coming from the country is coming from those fleeing border crossings. and the picture the paint is grim. tonight, there is a curfew which means no one can come through this crossing and they're trapped inside their own country. the leader has made it clear that he would rather kill his own people and give them the freedom they crave. >> hillary clinton has condemned the events unfolding in libya and says the obama administration is watching the situation with alarm. the violence committed against anti-government activists is unacceptable. >> united states continues to watch the situation in libya with alarm. our thoughts and prayers are with those whose lives have been lost and their loved ones. we join the international community in condemning the

violence. as we receive reports of hundreds killed and many more injured. this bloodshed is completely unacceptable. it is the responsibility of the government of libya to respect the universal rights of their own people, including their right to free expression and assembly. >> the u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton. during may is the secretary general of the salvation front. thank you for your time. just listening to the response and we heard earlier today the united nations security council has condemned the force against civilians. are you satisfied with what you are hearing from the west? >> i welcome what i am hearing but i do not think it is enough. now, gaddafi is committing

crimes against humanity and murdering libyans. committing the crime of fouwar. the militia and army is fighting his own people, using ships to bomb benghazi. it does not stand for the occasion. >> he was very defiant in his message earlier today. do you think this is -- he is not going anywhere and he will stay there until his last dying day in libya? >> that is what makes it urgent for the international community to move swiftly to protect the civilians in libya. and the libyan people. >> do you agree that will

happen? he will stay there completely defiant? >> i cannot predict what gaddafi will do on this occasion. he made his appearance very clear that he would destroy the country and he would use all force which he has and he has used all kinds of methods to try to divide people and make some issues between tribes and all what he said today is an attempt to make chaos in the country. the issue is that what we are hearing from the liberated cities which demonstrators took over, that situation comes and they are working in a very

brotherly atmosphere and solidarity. something which gaddafi never let exist. he is trying to destroy that. >> nonetheless, the bloodshed clearly continuing with those most loyal to his regime. it does appear that the military, some forces of them, some sections in tripoli are not giving up. >> those who are not giving up are the security battalion which gaddafi had around him. we are hearing the units from the army during the demonstrators, even his ministry of the interior. proclaiming his opposition to

gaddafi. the ministry of dust -- just as did the same. when he ordered the frigates to bomb and gauzy -- benghazi, a frigate defected to malta. the military is trying to get away. when we hear all the beer unit's during the demonstrators. >> thank you very much for your time and for joining us. the secretary-general of the national front for the salvation of libya. we will have more on the situation. let's turn our attention to other news. a national state of emergency has been declared in new zealand

in the wake of the devastating earthquake. rescuers tried to find survivors. the new zealand prime minister said the quake brought death and destruction on a dreadful scale. 75 are known to have been killed but many more are still missing. >> rescued alive, nearly a day after the quake struck. a survivor pulled from the rubble by rescue teams worked tirelessly through the night. >> a server has been extracted alive and well. -- survivor has been extracted alive and well. >> the quick has left many parts of christchurch in ruins. toppled buildings are strewn in

the streets. it is an anxious wait. >> i have two wonderful kids and i think we want them here. we pray [unintelligible] pe for the best but prepare for the worse. >> the earthquake struck when christchurch was at its busiest trade is the second quick to hit here in six months. it is the worst natural disaster in decades. the search and rescue operation continues. there have been pledges of support from around the globe. >> we have teams coming in from australia. from australia and taiwan. >> the state of emergency has been declared in christ church

and is feared the death toll could rise. >> we can talk live to new zealand's prime minister and he is in wellington. welcome to the program and thank you for your time. just give us an idea of how the search and rescue operation is going at the moment. >> it is obviously a very difficult environment in christchurch. the level of destruction of property is extreme and while in technical terms the quake was smaller than the one that occurred a few months ago, the effects have been so much bigger partly because so many buildings were damaged. teams have been working through the night and we're joined by the hour australian friends earlier this morning and we have more teams coming from australia.

we would be appreciative of the support we have had from the united kingdom. i had a call last night, my defense minister counterpart had one. we saw that europe sent an offering and we will accept. we are pleased we have experts from your country on the way here. they will be here to help at the narrow window of this tragedy. the death toll is estimated at 75 at the moment. the bad news is that the number will almost certainly grow. >> we have been seeing pictures from christchurch that are out utterly devastating. you get an idea of how many

people may be trapped beneath these buildings? >> we have been trying to put a number on the number of buildings that require that sort of level of search and the number of people that could be in those buildings. it is too early to really provide an informed estimate. it is complicated by the fact that the greatest destruction was in the center of christ church where we had many hotels. while it is relatively straightforward to establish who was missing, the monks new zealanders, which include those from christchurch, the number who have been caught up in this tragedy is harder to determine. we're working through that. i will say that it is a certainty about this, in addition to many lives being lost, there is others,

some number will be caught up in this as well. >> the country was just recovering from the events that occurred in september following that massive earthquake there. how long do you anticipate it will be before new zealanders will get back on their feet? >> this is going to be a long- term project. i was there and i left an hour before the quake. we have been talking about the fragility of people's nerves. the ongoing aftershocks and i was talking to the deputy secretary of foreign affairs who is based with the police. there was another aftershock well we were talking. you cann imagine after all this going back to september and this

terrible tragedy yesterday, we still have these checks coming -- shakes coming. it means the rescue work is dangerous. we have people close by who are not able to get fully involved in the search and rescue process. we need specialists. otherwise we will end up with more people being caught up in this crisis. it makes it important that we have people with the skills and the equipment in addition to the uk with the heavy u.s., australia, singapore, taiwan, all sending those sorts of skilled people here and we're going to need all of them. >> thank you for airtime. you are watching "bbc news". plenty more to come.

all prices have -- oil prices have been reason. as the 12th largest exporter, their concerns. spillover into the other regional producers is a concern forcing up the price which could affect energy prices in europe. the big worry for investors in energy stocks is the possibility for future process in other countries. >> exports are being hit. it is the third largest oil producer in africa and has the largest estimated reserves. reports suggested there were blocked and a company has halted production. the price of crude is up.

>> it ioil is not the only worr. libya also has a gas pipeline to italy and they are worried elsewhere. protests in algeria could threaten gas supplies to much of southern europe. the big worry for investors is the protests that have not happened yet. it is estimated that libya will be the largest oil producer but could see its demand stop for a long time because of unrest and that is what sent it to its current level. it could go further. $150 a barrel without breaking a sweat. protests in yemen and bahrain could start. >> you are watching "bbc news".

promise tofi has pressed asid purge libya house by house. dozens more are trapped in new zealand. let's stay with the situation in new zealand. we will talk to a reporter. one of the worst affected by the earthquake. we spoke to you an hour ago when you were telling us about a halt in the rescue operations at the building. can you update us? >> the short time ago it did look like this was about to resume. unfortunately that is not the case. what we thought was the rescue

teams moving in. one of them may -- it is in danger of coming down. it has twisted itself on its axis and it is slumping into its foundations. it is hard to explain. sort of a multistory building. it is angular and twisted at the moment and there is a great cloud of smoke around it. we're expecting it to fall down any time now. i do understand that the streets have been cordoned off and people have been ordered out of the vicinity. for a couple of blocks. we are standing by here in the central business district. the recovery operation will resume.

we are waiting because if there any more survivors trapped in these piles of rubble. >> while we are speaking to you, we are dipping into live pictures from news agencies that are coming in to us. we can see the building you are talking about. that has been one of many buildings there that have toppled on themselves. we just spoke to the foreign minister saying that there are fears that fatalities will increase in number beyond 75. any idea how many people may be trapped in some of the buildings where you are? >> i understand it could have been up to 100 people in the city. 300 is touted as the number who are not accounted for. that could -- they could be

trapped in cars or buildings. they're not accounted for. >> what kind of informations -- information is getting out to people? this could be outside of the cordoned area. they are encouraging people to come forward and register their name. people have not heard from. we could -- you could register to find your loved one. one problem is that we are experiencing, i was trapped in a high-rise building. it was terrifying, we were

running for our lives and i lost all my possessions and it is making it difficult to contact people as well. i have been trying to call a number of friends and you do not know if they have this. there are too many questions and it is difficult to put a number on how many people are missing. >> we will speak to you again. thank you. a reporter for television news jalen speaking to us. plenty on that to come. we will keep you updated on the developments and on other developing stories this hour. for more analysis, log onto the bbc news website. stay with us.

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