<p><br /> Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has appeared on state TV and denied rumours that he had fled the chaos-stricken country.<br /> </p><p><br /> The embattled dictator's 41-year rule is hanging in the balance amid bloody clashes between protesters and security forces.<br /> </p><p><br /> He has said he remined in Tripoli and referred to foreign news channels who reported that he had travelled to Venezuela as "dogs".<br /> </p><p><br /> In a brief and strange address from the passenger seat of a van clutching an umbrella he said: "I want to show that I'm in Tripoli and not in Venezuela. Do not believe the channels belonging to stray dogs. I wanted to say something to the youths at the Green Square (in Tripoli) and stay up late with them but it started raining. Thank God, it's a good thing."<br /> </p><p><br /> With large parts of Libya already believed to be under rebel control, crowds on the streets of Tripoli have been targeted by loyalist gunmen and airstrikes.<br /> </p><p><br /> But Mr Gaddafi's grip on power was looking increasingly shaky after a series of senior Libyan diplomats defected and spoke out against the brutal repression.<br /> </p><p><br /> World leaders including David Cameron also intensified their criticism of the regime, demanding an end to violence estimated to have cost more than 230 lives so far.<br /> </p><p><br /> Relatively little reliable information has been coming out of Libya, but reports suggest some elements of the army are fighting loyalist forces.<br /> </p><p><br /> The unrest had not reached the capital until Sunday, when hundreds of protesters flooded the streets, but the situation appears to have escalated there quickly.<br /> </p><p><br /> Justice Minister Mustapha Abdul Jalil has quit the government because of the "excessive use of violence", according to a privately owned Libyan newspaper.<br /> </p><p><br /> The country's deputy envoy to the UN, Ibrahim Dabbashi, has also called on the dictator to step down, accusing his government of genocide.<br /> </p><p><br /> US secretary of state Hillary Clinton said she "strongly condemned the violence in Libya", insisting: "Now is the time to stop this unacceptable bloodshed."<br /> </p><p><br /> Mr Cameron, in Egypt on a tour of the volatile region, deployed some of the toughest language by branding the regime's actions "completely appalling and unacceptable".<br /> </p>
