TRIPOLI (AFP): — 0810 GMT: More from Mohamed Kadhafi's interview with Al Jazeera:
"I was not part of the security or official systems of the government to know what was going on. I think that the lack of reason and wide vision led Libya to where it is now," he said in the interview.
"Our problems were simple. They could have been solved," he said as the crackle of gunfire, which he said was "inside" his home, interrupted his conversation.
0800 GMT: Here's an update of the latest situation in Tripoli this morning as rebels battle for control of the Libyan capital.
-An AFP reporter says heavy fighting is raging this morning near the Moamer Kadhafi's Tripoli compound.
-Fighting has been audible since around 0400 GMT in the south of the capital, where there have been exchanges of heavy weaponry and automatic rifle fire.
-Kadhafis whereabouts are unknown but one of his sons, Seif al-Islam, has been arrested while another, Mohamed Kadhafi was interviewed by Al-Jazeera television cowering in his house, afraid to leave.
0738 GMT: TV reports show Libyan opposition groups hauling down the flag of the Kadhafi regime and installing another flag at the Libyan embassy in the Turkish capital Ankara. NTV television also showed opposition groups tearing down pictures of Kadhafi during the protest.
0726 GMT: The rebel advance deep into Tripoli has sent oil prices tumbling in Asian trade on prospects of Libyan oil production getting fully back on stream.
0648 GMT: The office of the British Prime Minister David Cameron has cut short a trip to Cornwall to return to London to attend a security meeting on Libya early Monday.
0645 GMT: Herve Bar, an AFP reporter in Benghazi, says Tens of thousands of people poured into the streets of the Libya rebel "capital" during the night to celebrate what they believed was the imminent fall of Kadhafi. The streets are jammed with thousands of vehicles, their hazard lights flashing, as people headed for the Corniche, the Mediterranean seaside avenue that is the nerve centre of the six-month-old revolution. From the minarets of mosques, muezzins blared out their shared celebration in prayer.
0628 GMT: A diplomatic source has told AFP that Kadhafi could still be in his Bab Al-Aziziya compound in central Tripoli. Asking not to be identified, Tte source, who met the embattled strongman within the past two weeks, said: "He is still in Tripoli and could be in his residence at Bab Al-Aziziya."
0605 GMT: In a brief phone interview with Al-Jazeera television broadcast Monday morning, one of Kadhafi's sons, Mohamed, said he was holed up in his house, frightened to leave. During the broadcast the sound of intense firing could be heard, interrupting the interview. When it resumed, Kadhafi spoke with a tone of panic. Al-Jazeera gave no indication of where the house is, or even whether it is in Tripoli.
0548 GMT: An AFP reporter says heavy fighting was heard near the Kadhafi residence in central Tripoli. Fighting has also been reported in the south of the capital.
0445 GMT: An AFP reporter said the night was mainly calm in Tripoli although the sound of fighting was heard early on Monday in the south of the capital. By daybreak it was still not clear how much of the capital the rebels controlled.
0433 GMT: Australia?s Prime Minister Julia Gillard has urged Kadhafi to "get out of the way" of the rebellion sweeping his country: "Events are moving very, very quickly but it obviously appears that the rebels are in Tripoli, that the rebels are about to secure Libya overall. ?We continue to call on Colonel Kadhafi to get out of the way, and of course we believe that he should face the international charges that are against him.?
0414 GMT: The Philippine government has warned its nationals in Libya to stay indoors as it arranges a ship to get them out of the country. An estimated 2,000 Filipinos, many medical workers, are still in Libya with about 1,200 in Tripoli and the surrounding suburbs.
0331 GMT: In front of the White House in WashingtonDC, Rania Swadek, a 33-year-old American-Libyan teacher, told our correspondent: ?We want Kadhafi alive to put him on trial for his crimes against humanity for four decades". Children were among those gathered with some wearing white t-shirts with the Libyan flag and "Free Libya".
0227 GMT: AFP correspondent Stéphane Jourdain in Washington DC reports a small crowd has gathered outside the White House waving Libyan flags and singing: "Merci Sarkozy, Merci Sarkozy, thank you Obama, thank you Obama".
0217 GMT: Obama calls on Libyan rebels to respect human rights and move to democracy. The Kadhafi regime is at a "tipping point", he said, urging the Libyan leader to go.
0135 GMT: Witnesses have reported scenes of jubilation in Benghazi, the rebels' bastion in the east, where delirious residents are said to be dancing in the streets and proclaiming the end of the regime of the "tyrant" Kadhafi.
0113 GMT: Mahmud Jibril, a rebel leader has called on police and security forces not to leave their posts and to keep doing their jobs, staying alert to protect the people and their property.
"Today, as we celebrate victory, I appeal to your conscience and to your responsibility: don't get carried away. Do not avenge yourselves, don't pillage, don't insult foreigners and respect the prisoners."
He took particular pains to refer to those close to Kadhafi who might be captured, including his sons and relatives. "Prove that we are up the responsibility to protect them and their lives," he said.
0105 GMT: Libyan senior rebel leader Mahmud Jibril says there are still pockets of resistance in Tripoli from forces loyal to Kadhafi, rebel television Al-Ahrar reports.
0100 GMT: US President Barack Obama, after receiving a briefing from senior national security staffer John Brennan during his seaside vacation, told reporters: "We're going to wait until we have full confirmation of what has happened... I'll make a statement when we do."
0100 GMT: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a staunch of ally of Kadhafi, has slammed Western powers for "destroying Tripoli with their bombs". "Today we are seeing images of the democratic governments of Europe, along with the supposedly democratic government of the United States destroying Tripoli with their bombs."
0001 GMT: Welcome to AFP's coverage of the Libya conflict as rebels surge into the capital of Tripoli in a final drive to oust Moamer Kadhafi, seizing swathes of the capital including symbolic Green Square and arresting the strongman's son, Seif al-Islam.
Here's a summary of the situation so far:
- Thousands of residents poured onto the streets to welcome the rebels, congregating at the site which they renamed Martyrs Square near the water front in the centre of Tripoli.
- Libyan government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim told a press conference that 1,300 people have been killed in the rebel assault on the capital, describing the fighting as a "real tragedy."
- In The Hague, the International Criminal Court's prosecutor confirmed that Kadhafi's son Seif al-Islam, for whom the ICC had issued arrest warrants for crimes against humanity, is in detention.
- Rebels have reportedly overrun the eastern suburb of Tajura and boasted that they would seize control of the capital during the night.
- A rebel party took over an army barracks at a western entrance to Tripoli, raiding the stores of missiles and other ammunition, AFP correspondents at the scene said.
- The rebels also released dozens of prisoners held in Maya, 25 kilometres (15 miles) west of Tripoli, AFP correspondents said.
- It is still not clear how much of the capital the rebels have seized, but it appears they have taken over the headquarters of the Libyana mobile telephone company, located in Tajura.
- Libyan rebel leaders said an advance party of fighters had arrived by sea in the capital early Sunday and joined sleeper cells of rebels to launch the final drive, codenamed "Mermaid."
- Another rebel force advanced on the capital from the west, moving in a convoy of around 100 vehicles as onlookers fired celebratory gunfire into the air, an AFP correspondent said.
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