Muammar Gaddafi will commit suicide the way Adolf Hitler did at the end of World War II rather than surrender or flee, a former Libyan cabinet minister told a Swedish newspaper in an interview published on Thursday.

"Gaddafi's days are numbered. He will do what Hitler did - he will take his own life," former Justice Minister Mustafa Mohamed Abud Al Jeleil told Expressen in an interview in Al Bayda.

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Al Jeleil resigned this week in protest at violence used by the government against demonstrators opposed to Gaddafi. The leader is battling to preserve his 41-year rule.

In the same interview, part of which were released on Wednesday, Al Jeleil said he had proof Gaddafi gave the order for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed 270 people.

Elsewhere, a US official said on Thursday that the American government has no reason to believe that Gaddafi is dead, after oil traders cited a rumor that Gaddafi had been shot as pushing down oil prices.

Asked if Washington had reason to believe that Gaddafi, who is seeking to crush protests against his 41-year rule in the oil-exporting North African nation, was dead, the US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: "No."

Obama building consensus

Meanwhile, the US was working to build consensus for action against Colonel Gaddafi's government, which President Barack Obama has condemned for "outrageous" violence against its people.

The president was scheduled to talk to leaders of Britain and France on Thursday about the Libyan crisis, as Washington kept all options open, including sanctions and military action.

"I'm not ruling out bilateral options," White House spokesman Jay Carney said when asked whether the United States was considering military steps. "I'm not ruling anything out."

He said the situation in the North African oil-producing nation "demands quick action."