Gadhafi Son Insists Libya is 'Calm' and Denies Inflicting Civilian Casualties

In an interview that often was at bizarre odds with reports of the turmoil in his country, Seif al-Islam el-Gadhafi minimized on Sunday the number of Libyans who have joined the uprising against his father, Moammar Gadhafi, and the extent of the fighting, saying, "There's a big gap between reality and the media reports."

"In Tripoli, we have here half of the population of Libya," the younger Gadhafi told Christiane Amanpour on ABC's "This Week." "That's more than 2 million, 2.5 million people living in the city. Do you think because of 10,000 or 5,000 people, even if you have the demands against my father or whatever, it means that the whole Libyan population is against Mr. Gadhafi?"

He also denied reports that helicopter gunships had been ordered to fire on civilians or that warplanes bombed civilian targets, saying: "Show me a single attack. Show me a single bomb. Show me a single casualties. The Libyan air force destroyed just the ammunition sites."

Asked about President Obama's call for his father to step down, Gadhafi said: "It's not an American business. That's number one. Second, do you think this is a solution? Of course not."

When Gadhafi made his remark about the gap between reality and media reports, Amanpour asked him whether the gap was between what he was saying and the events going on across Libya in such cities as Benghazi and now Zawiya, 30 miles from the capital, which are under rebel control.

"The whole south is calm," Gadhafi said. "The west is calm. The middle is calm. Even part of the east."

At another point in the interview, he insisted, "You're hearing rumors, false reports. Please, take your cameras tomorrow morning, even tonight go Libya. Everything is calm. Everything is peaceful."

That was the impression the regime was hoping to reinforce when it invited journalists to visit Tripoli, a move that The New York Times said "appeared to backfire Saturday, as foreign journalists he invited to the capital discovered blocks of the city in open defiance of his authority."

Asked about defections from the regime ranging from elements of the army to Libyan diplomats abroad, Gadhafi said, "Many of them ... think the system will collapse. So the best thing is to jump from the ship. The ship is sinking, they think, so it's better to jump. ... If you are strong, they love you. If not, they say good-bye. That is good. We get rid of them. Hypocrites."

He vowed to stay in Libya, saying: "Nobody is leaving this country. We live here. We die here. This is our country. The Libyans are our people."

The younger Gadhafi, who studied at the London School of Economics, has been said to be an heir apparent to his father and was considered by some to be reform-minded and more amenable to dealing with western nations.

Early in the crisis, he took to the airwaves at 1 a.m. and warned that if the regime was deposed, "There will be civil war."

Gadhafi did say he regretted being unsuccessful in undertaking the kinds of reforms he wanted to institute in the country.

"It was a big mistake not to move fast," he said. "I was ... shouting every day. But I was crazy about going fast and implementing the reforms at the right time. I worked very hard to go to implement many ideas. But things went wrong. So now we are in a difficult situation."

Amanpour also spoke to another one of Gadhafi's sons, Saadi, who has lived many years outside of Libya, played football in Italy and has a reputation as a globetrotter. While he has been involved in Libya's business interests, he has not been a player in its politics.

Saadi Gadhafi appeared mainly occupied by sanctions approved last week by the United Nations, which bans travel by Gadhafi, his family and his top associates.

"I'm going to hire a lawyer," Gadhafi said. "I have some hobbies after I quit football. I have some hobbies like I do some hunting, I go to safari. So in Libya there is no safari, so I've got to safari, I have got to hire a lawyer."

Asked about the desire for freedom being expressed by Libyans, Gadhafi answered: "They have. They have." He added: "Everybody wants more. There is no limit. You give this, then you get asked for that, you know?"

He said of being Gadhafi's son: "I have to deal with it. I would like to be myself. I would like to be just Saadi."