Final push

Moammar Gadhafi's 42-year rule in Libya is "crumbling," the NATO military alliance said late on Sunday, as news agencies reported that rebel forces were closing in on Gadhafi's compound in Tripoli.

"What we're seeing tonight is the regime crumbling," chief NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu told the AFP news agency of the final push for victory in the capital. "The sooner Gadhafi realizes there is no way he can win, the better for everyone."

"What you are seeing tonight is the cumulative effect, over time, of the eroded capabilities of the regime," Lungescu added, citing more than 4,000 military targets damaged or destroyed in the last four months.

At daybreak, more than 12 hours after fighting broke out in Tripoli, shooting could still be heard in the capital, though it was less heavy and sustained.

The uprising within the capital appeared to be isolated to a few neighborhoods, as rebels advanced from the city of Zawiyah west of Tripoli and up through the main highway from the south.

German news agency dpa reported a rumor that Gadhafi had fled Tripoli and was headed towards the Algerian border. But there was no confirmation of the report from rebel forces.

Gadhafi's battle cry

A beleaguered Gadhafi urged supporters on Sunday to "march by the millions" and quash the uprising by taking up arms.

"I am afraid if we don't act, they will burn Tripoli," he said in an audio address broadcast on state television. "There will be no more water, food, electricity or freedom."

"We have to put an end to this masquerade," Gadhafi said. "You must march by the millions to free the destroyed towns."

The Libyan strongman also claimed in his address that France's involvement in NATO's Libyan mission was French President Nicolas Sarkozy's attempt at offering his people Libyan oil in order to secure upcoming elections.

"But the Libyan people will not allow France to take its oil or leave Libya to the hands of traitors," Gadhafi said.

Celebrations in Benghazi

Meanwhile, in the rebels' eastern stronghold of Benghazi, leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil claimed that victory was within reach, six months after the insurgency was launched.

Celebrations broke out in Benghazi early Sunday as residents feted what they claimed was the imminent collapse of Gadhafi's rule.

"We have contacts with people from the inner circle of Gadhafi," said Jalil, the chairman of the rebel National Transition Council. "All evidence [shows] that the end is very near, with God's grace."

Jalil predicted a "catastrophic" end for Gadhafi and his inner circle, along with turmoil in Tripoli.

Choking off the capital

However, the rebels also saw some setbacks on Sunday in the eastern oil hub of Brega, one day after they claimed the city's control. Rebel Colonel Ahmed Omar Bani said retreating Gadhafi forces shelled Brega's industrial zone on Saturday, forcing his fighters to retreat to the city's eastern edge.

Meanwhile, in the western oil town of Zawiyah, another strategic rebel claim, families were reported fleeing in cars and pickups, first lining up for hundreds of meters at filling stations, where rebels were distributing fuel from the nearby refinery for free.

With Zawiyah, the rebels now control Tripoli's only fuel source. Rebels have been fighting to sever the capital's supply lines from Tunisia to the west and to Gadhafi's home town of Sirte in the east, in hopes of choking off the capital and sparking a rebellion from within the city.

Author: David Levitz, Gabriel Borrud (AFP, dpa, Reuters)

Editor: Toma Tasovac, Kyle James