Rebels seize major Tripoli military base as fighting intensifies around capital

The Libyan government has appealed for an immediate ceasefire and an end to Nato's "aggression" as the rebel force advances ever closer to the city centre.

Spokesman for Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's regime, Moussa Ibrahim, told reporters the rebels were nothing without Nato and they would never be able to take Libya.

He claimed the people of Tripoli would never rise up and join the rebels and warned of a bloodbath on the streets as they moved closer to the capital.

"Tripoli is well protected and we have thousands upon thousands of professional soldiers ready to defend this city against any possible invasion by rebels under the cover of Nato."

He added: "What is happening now and what is going to happen is not the power of the rebels.

"It's the power of Nato - a major force for evil that has no heart, using armed gangs to occupy a whole nation."

Rebels initially came under sniper fire at the western gate of Tripoli, forcing them to retreat slightly.

Reports indicated they then advanced again, staging large protests around the city.

Residents in the city have either been to scared to leave their homes, leaving streets deserted, or have risked their lives to protect their families from the violence.

Fighters from the western city of Zawiyah earlier pushed forward and took Jaddaim, less than 20 miles (30km) from Tripoli.

Overnight, explosions and sustained gunfire rocked parts of Tripoli as the leader of Libya's rebel force insisted "the end is very near" for Col Gaddafi.

"We have contacts with people from the inner circle of Gaddafi," Mustafa Abdel Jalil said.

"All evidence shows that the end is very near, with God's grace."

Jalil added: "I expect a catastrophic end for him and his inner circle, and I expect that he will create a situation within Tripoli. I hope my expectation is wrong."

Four loud explosions were heard in Tripoli at 4am local time, as Nato warplanes flew overhead. The targets have not yet been identified.

A senior opposition figure claimed rebels had taken the eastern suburb of Tajoura and were fighting for control of the Mitiga airbase in the north.

There had also been particularly fierce clashes near the Souq al Juma area and the Fashloum district of the city.

Reports also said there had been clashes near Col Gaddafi's compound in the centre of the city.

There were claims that a number of opposition activists died fighting in the suburb of Qadah, while three pro-Gaddafi soldiers were killed in Zawiyat al Dahmani, close to the main port.

However, later reports said up to 31 Gaddafi troops had died in Tripoli, while a further 42 had been captured.

Col Gaddafi himself reacted defiantly by denouncing the rebels as "rats" and insisting the unrest in the capital had been crushed.

"We congratulate you on eliminating the remnants of the rats who spread around (Tripoli) tonight, and who were confronted by the people," he said on state TV.

"I know you are happy and I saw the fireworks in Green Square, I know that there are air strikes but the fireworks were louder than the air bombing."

Ibrahim confirmed some armed rebels had reached the capital but insisted they had been dealt with.

But a former deputy of Col Gaddafi has called for the people of Tripoli to depose Libya's long-time ruler.

Abdel Salam Jalloud was among three members of the Libyan regime to defect to the rebels this week.

He told the Al Jazeera network: "The people of Tripoli, who account for more than a quarter of Libya's population, rise up as one man, women, men, children and the elderly.

"Enough, zero hour is here. Enough.

"The areas which have not yet stamped the fear with their feet should defeat that fear tonight and unite, as your enemy is fear."

Rebels earlier claimed to have captured the eastern oil town of Brega, but a rebel military spokesman later said his fighters lost the industrial area to Gaddafi troops.