Istana Gadaffi diselongkar, Pemberontak raikan kejayaan

Tripoli 15 Ramadhan Libyan rebels have overrun the fortified compound of Muammar Gaddafi in Bab al-Azizya in the capital, Tripoli, following intense fighting with forces loyal to the Libyan leader. The rebels "broke through the gates of Bab al-Azizya [and] some opposition fighters managed to enter the government's stronghold in the Libyan capital," Al Jazeera's correspondent Zeina Khodr said, reporting from the compound on Tuesday.

As celebratory gunfire rang out, there were reports that the compound armoury was being looted. A rebel supporter was seen kicking around a broken sculpture of Gaddafi.

A local Tripoli radio station reported Gaddafi as saying that his withdrawal from his headquarters was a "tactical move after the compound was levelled by 64 NATO air strikes".

What was put out by the radio station was also reported by Al-Orouba TV broadcasting in conjunction with Al-Rai TV. The report said Gaddafi vowed "martyrdom" or victory in his fight against NATO. Moussa Ibrahim, a spokesman for Gaddafi, later said the Libyan leader was ready to resist rebels for months, or even years, and vowed to turn Libya into "volcanoes, lava and fire".

Speaking by telephone to Al-Orouba and al-Rai, Ibrahim said that Gaddafi's forces had captured four "high ranking" Qataris and one United Arab Emirates national, and said that rebel leaders would not enjoy peace if they moved to Tripoli from the eastern city of Benghazi.

Stamped out: Rebels trample on a bust of Gaddafi yesterday as they screamed chants claiming that they were going to get him

Victory in sight: Rebel fighters celebrate near a partially obscured golf buggy belonging to Gaddafi inside the leader's compound

If the cap fits...: Colonel Gaddafi (left) pictured in military uniform in 2009 and (right), a rebel proudly shows off the same cap after ransacking the dictator's compound

A rebel fighter picks a slightly odd place to keep a couple of bullets as he smiles in the renamed Martyr's Square in central Tripoli

Celebration: A large group of people gathered in Martyr's Square, formerly named Green Square, to mark the fall of Gaddafi's compound last night

Smoke billows in the sky in the distance from Gaddafi's compound as a group of rebels drive past in a pick-up truck

Fire! A rebel launches a round from his gun towards Gaddafi's compound

Smashed: Rebel fighters can't hide their joy as they destroy the iconic statue of a fist holding an American jet

Times have changed: Gaddafi gives one of his rambling speeches in front of his statue earlier in the conflict when he was in a stronger position

Digging deep: Rebel fighters, some holding weapons, sit on the ground in the Gorgi district of Tripoli yesterday

Last stand: The body of a dead pro-Gaddafi fighter lies inside a burning tent in the dictator's compound

Innocent victims: Relatives mourn two children killed by snipers in Tripoli yesterday