Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi said he was out of reach of NATO forces he called "coward crusaders," in a statement following reports he had been wounded.
"I tell the coward crusaders I live I a place you cannot reach. I live in the hearts of millions," the leader said in a aired by state-run television in Libya, Radio France Internationale reported Saturday.
While NATO forces, under a mission to protect Libyan civilians, pounded Tripoli Thursday and Friday, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said Gadhafi was "probably outside of Tripoli and probably also injured," which the Libyan government denied.
Frattini later said he had no proof that Gadhafi had been wounded.
The Washington Post reported Saturday that second in command of Libya's rebel forces Mahmoud Jibril met in Washington with national security adviser Tom Donilon.
The two discussed "how the United States and the coalition can provide additional support," the White House said in a statement that provided no details, the Post reported.
The White House called the rebel's political organization, the Transitional National Council, "a legitimate and credible interlocutor of the Libyan people," but stopped short of declaring it a legitimate government, a step that would allow the rebel group to ask for additional monetary support.
The International Criminal Court in The Hague said it would likely issue arrest warrants for three Libyans, one of which is likely to include Gadhafi, the Post said.
The warrants, which would be issued for crimes against humanity, would limit Gadhafi's movement, as many countries have pledged to abide by the court's rulings, the newspaper said.