In a phone call from the town of al-Zawiya played live on TV, Col Gaddafi said young people were being duped with drugs and alcohol to take part in "destruction and sabotage".

Col Gaddafi is battling to shore up control of Tripoli and western areas.

Protesters have been consolidating gains in cities in the east.

Opposition politicians and tribal leaders have held a key meeting in

The telephone call was said to be an address to the people of al-Zawiya, 50km (30 miles) west of the capital, where there has been renewed gunfire reported in the streets.

Col Gaddafi said the protesters had no genuine demands and were being dictated to by the al-Qaeda leader.

"Bin Laden... this is the enemy who is manipulating people. Do not be swayed by Bin Laden," he said.

"It is obvious now that this issue is run by al-Qaeda. Those armed youngsters, our children, are incited by people who are wanted by America and the Western world.

"Those inciting are very few in numbers and we have to capture them."

He said the young protesters were "trigger happy and they shoot especially when they are stoned with drugs".

He said that Libya was not like Egypt and Tunisia, which have seen their leaders deposed, because the people of Libya had it in their own hands to change their lives through committees.

"This is your country and it is up to you how to deal with it," he said.

Calling the situation in al-Zawiya a "farce", he urged families to rein in their sons, saying many of the protesters were underage and beyond the reach of the law.

But he also vowed that those carrying out violent protests should be put on trial.

This was Col Gaddafi's second live TV appearance since the protests erupted on 15 February.

On Tuesday he said he would die a martyr in Libya and fight to the "last drop" of his blood.

Heavy gunfire has been reported in al-Zawiya and there are reports of a police station on fire.

One civilian leaving through the Tunisian border told Reuters: "It is chaotic there. There are people with guns and swords."

An eyewitness told Associated Press that soldiers had opened fire on protesters holed up in the city's Souq Mosque, while a doctor at a field clinic told AP he had seen 10 bodies and 150 wounded people.

Information from Libya remains difficult to verify and many reports cannot be independently confirmed.

Zuara, 120km west of Tripoli, was said to be in the hands of anti-government militias and defence committees of civilians, with no sign of police.

Fighting is reported between pro- and anti-government forces in Misrata, Libya's third-biggest city, 200km east of Tripoli.

Pro-Gaddafi forces are said to have also launched attacks in Sabratha and Sabha.

But Tripoli, under government control, and cities in the east, held by the protesters, are generally said to be calm.

Opposition tribal leaders and politicians met in al-Bayda in the east to demonstrate a united front against Col Gaddafi in one of the first signs of organisation for a bigger fight against the government.

The total number of deaths has been impossible to determine. Human Rights Watch says it has confirmed nearly 300 deaths, but the International Federation for Human Rights says at least 700 people have been killed, while Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said estimates of 1,000 dead were "credible".

Thousands of foreigners are still struggling to leave Libya with the situation at Tripoli airport described as mayhem.

Oil prices have continued to climb.

Brent crude hit $119.79 (£74.08) a barrel in early Thursday trade, before falling back to $116.80. Oil firms - including Total, Repsol, OMV and Wintershall - have been suspending all or part of their production in Libya this week