Clashes near Gaddafi's compound

The sound of heavy fighting and gun battles were heard in pockets of Tripoli, after rebels overnight gained control of much of the Libyan capital in a sweeping operation.

Clashes erupted on Monday after tanks left Bab Azaziya, Gaddafi's compound in Tripoli, and foreign journalists have been trapped inside the Rixos hotel.

"They are not allowed to leave the hotel because there are Gaddafi men in the area and around the area," Zeina Khodr, Al Jazeera's correspondent, said from Green Square.

"We have been in contact with some of them [journalists trapped in Rixos hotel] and they are telling us basically they were held there almost as human shields."

An opposition fighter in Tripoli told Al Jazeera up to 20 per cent of the city is in the hands of Gaddafi supporters.

"NATO air forces are above us, I am not sure if they are going to strike or they are just here for surveillance."

In other developments:
Gaddafi's two eldest sons are in custody. Saif al-Islam, had been arrested in a tourist village in western Tripoli and has been detained by the International Criminal Court and Mohammed, surrendered to rebel forces and spoke to Al Jazeera shortly afterwards.
US President Barack Obama says momentum against Gaddafi has reached a tipping point as world leaders heralded a "new beginning" for Libya.
For the latest news and developments on Libya check out Al Jazeera's Libya Live Blog
Throughout the night, euphoric Libyan rebels moved into the centre of Tripoli as Gaddafi's defenders melted away and thousands of jubilant civilians rushed out of their homes to cheer the long convoys of pickup trucks packed with fighters shooting in the air.

By Monday morning many of the streets in the centre of the city had emptied out as pockets of pro-Gaddafi resistance and the presence of snipers and shellings have made the areas dangerous.

Al Jazeera's Khodr, pulled back a few kilometres from the city centre and has reported the biggest challenge the opposition fighters are facing at the moment are the Gaddafi sleeper cells using heaving weapons and the presence of snipers.

There has been no word on the whereabouts of Gaddafi himself. Gaddafi has delivered a series of angry and defiant audio messages in recent days, vowing not to surrender. In the latest one, he acknowledged that opposition forces were moving into Tripoli and warned the city would be turned into another Baghdad.

"How come you allow Tripoli, the capital, to be under occupation once again?" he said. "The traitors are paving the way for the occupation forces to be deployed in Tripoli."

Sources predicted that South Africa was understood to be in negotiations with the Gaddafi camp to find a country of refuge for the Libyan leader.


However, in a press conference, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, South Africa's foreign minister, said Johannesburg is not facilitating Gaddafi's exit and does not know the 69-year-old leaders current whereabouts.

Nkoana-Mashabana added that South Africa will not recognise the rebel government at this moment if Gaddafi falls.

“The Libyans themselves must be given the chance to decide the future if their country and the future of Gaddafi,” Nkoana-Mashabana said.

Al Jazeera's correspondent in Johannesburg, Haru Matasa, said Angola and Zimbabwe have been cited as countries the embattled leader is most likely to go to.

The rebels' surprising and speedy leap forward, after six months of largely deadlocked civil war, was packed into just a few dramatic hours. By nightfall on Sunday, they had advanced more than 32km to Tripoli.

Our correspondent said rebels have tried to maintain order in the capital.

"The people of Tripoli really are maintaining law and order in the areas that they are now controlling in Tripoli.

"They have set up checkpoints, are searching cars and looking for possible Gaddaffi supporters, because ever since late last night they were worried about sleeper cells in the capital."