Time magazine's intelligence columnist reported on Tuesday that Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi has ordered his security forces to sabotage the country's oil facilities, citing a source close to the government.
In a column posted on Time's website, Robert Baer said the sabotage would begin by blowing up pipelines to the Mediterranean. However he added that the same source had also told him two weeks ago that unrest in neighboring countries would never spread to Libya -- an assertion that has turned out to be wrong.
"Among other things, Gadhafi has ordered security services to start sabotaging oil facilities," Baer wrote. "The sabotage, according to the insider, is meant to serve as a message to Libya's rebellious tribes: It's either me or chaos."
The growing violence in Libya has forced a number of oil companies to shut in production in Africa's third-largest oil producer and disrupted flows from the country's export terminals.
Security forces have cracked down fiercely on demonstrators across the country, with fighting spreading to Tripoli after erupting in Libya's oil-producing east last week. As the fighting has intensified some supporters have abandoned Gadhafi.
Also on Tuesday, the Arab League suspended Libya from an emergency meeting in Cairo held to discuss the situation in the country, including the violent crackdown on anti-government protesters, Qatari news network Al Jazeera reported.
Gadhafi gave a televised speech earlier on Tuesday saying he had no intention of stepping down, or leaving the country.
"I am not going to leave this land. I will die here as a martyr," Gaddafi said on state television, refusing to bow to calls from some of his own ministers and soldiers who have called for him to go.
Libya's representative to the League Abdel-Moneim al-Honi resigned from his post on Sunday in protest against the violence towards protesters, which has reportedly left hundreds of people dead.
At least three Muslim countries joined a call for the United Nations premier human rights body to hold an urgent meeting on the situation in Libya.
Jordan, Qatar and the Maldives were among the 16 signatories needed to call an emergency session of the UN Human Rights Council on Friday, according to a list obtained by The Associated Press.
The decision to convene an urgent meeting on Libya is unusual for the Geneva-based council as it rarely votes to scrutinize the record of its own members. Libya has a seat on the 47-nation body.
In the past, Muslim countries have been reluctant to add their names to such calls except when the country facing scrutiny was Israel.