A man stands near destroyed weapons belonging to forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, after a coalition air strike, along a road between Benghazi and Ajdabiyah March 21, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

Echoing Gaddafi's warning, a top French official said that the international military action against Libya is likely to last "a while."

Henri Guaino, a top adviser to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, told RMC radio that the strikes dealt a serious blow to Libya's air defenses and stalled Gaddafi's troops.

Libyan people's patriotic sentiment has run high after Western countries launched the joint military action. Pro-Gaddafi rallies and protests against the military intervention in Libya were seen as many people and students would take to the streets after work or school.

A Xinhua correspondent said the government has already opened arms depots to the people to protect the country and any Libyan citizen who registers at the government department can get guns and bullets now.

Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama on Monday said that it is US policy that Gaddafi needs to go, adding that US military actions will stick to the "international mandate" given by the United Nations.

"I also have stated that it is US policy that Gaddafi needs to go," Obama said in the joint press conference with Chilean President Sebastian Pinera.

"We've got a wide range of tools in addition to our military efforts to support that policy," he said, referring to US unilateral sanctions and US push for international sanctions on the Gaddafi government.

But he stressed that the current US military action is in support of an "international mandate" from the UN Security Council that specifically focuses on the humanitarian threat posed by Gaddafi, and the US will stick to that mandate.

The UN Security Council Resolution 1973 adopted on Thursday authorized a no-fly zone over Libya to "protect civilians" of the country, which is different from the US policy to see the toppling of Gaddafi.

"There is going to be a transition taking place in which we are one of the partners among many who are going to ensure that no-fly zone is in force and that the humanitarian protection that needs to be provided continues to be in place," said Obama.

Also on Monday, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in an interview with Russia's Interfax news agency that the United States will soon scale down its participation in the military actions against Libya.

Speaking in Russian city of St. Petersburg, Gates also said it would be a mistake for the coalition to set for itself a goal of eliminating Gaddafi.

"It is clear to everybody that Libya will be better-off without Gaddafi. But that is a matter for the Libyans themselves to solve. And I think given the opportunity and the absence of repressions they themselves can do that and I think it would be a mistake of us to set that as a goal," he said.