"Get ready to fight for Libya, get ready to fight for dignity, get ready to fight for petroleum," he raved. "You must dance, sing, and prepare yourself - this spirit you have is stronger than any other attempt by the foreigners and the enemies to destroy us.

"Muammar Gaddafi is amongst you. I stand among the people and we will fight and we will kill them if they want."

The Libyan leader, who has lost swathes of his country to a citizens revolt, raged against his opponents. He said: "Respond to them, put them to shame" and "we can triumph over the enemies."
But his frequent calls to arms has not turned the tide of rebellion. It crept steadily closer all afternoon. Only Green Square, the central bastion of the revolution, and Bab al-Azizia district, where Col Gaddafi's fortified, gun turreted compound and rows of apartment blocs for government employees are located, is truly safe for the 68 year old now.

The people had come streaming out of the mosques even before the Friday sermon was finished, incensed by the government propaganda the mullahs of Tripoli had been forced to deliver.

Worryingly other citadels had fallen yesterday. First the military airport at Mitiga and, after fierce clashes, the Friday Market area of the city. Steadily the size of no-go zones for the heavily armed gunmen - many of them black Africans from other countries - expanded.

What had incensed the crowds of demonstrators was the warnings delivered by the imam (Muslim preachers) to the faithful in Tripoli's mosques.
"Those who call for chaos will not be forgiven on the Day of Judgment," said one. "Stay away from internal fighting. We have to stay away from any evil and wrong doing. Whoever disobeys the ruler is disobeying God. We have to stay away from incitement work for unity."

The clear message was to stop confronting the man who has led Libya for 41 years, longer than almost two thirds of his people have been alive.

To underline the point that he would not voluntarily go, Col Gaddafi had flooded the centre with soldiers ordered to shoot-on-sight at anyone causing trouble.

Elsewhere it was noticeable the mosques were particularly well guarded because of the large numbers of people they attract.
Tanks and other armoured vehicles had also taking up positions, while helicopter gunships whirred overhead.

"The worst violence has been in the east of the city - it's like a war zone' said a Tripoli student aged 21 as he ran through the streets. "People have been gunned down for protesting.

"Fierce fighting has taken place between the security forces and demonstrators. Protestors are trying to find guns and ammunition - this is the key to defeating Gaddafi."

Heavy gunfire explosions had been heard overnight on Friday in the high-residential Tajoura district of Tripoli, with locals reporting armed gangs roaming the street.

"It's sometimes hard to know whose side they're on," said a baker. "All carry weapons ranging from heavy machine guns to hunting rifles. It's anarchy at times."
Eyewitnesses outnumbered victims. One man said: "After the Friday prayers, the youth came out into the street and shouted 'Down with Gaddafi, Long live Libya!'. The security forces met us with live gunfire and teargas. I saw two men fall down and someone told me they were shot in the head."

In another vain attempt to quell the rebellion Col Gaddafi appeared on state television early in the morning to offer cash hand-outs to Libya's population.

He said every family would receive 500 dinars, or around £300. He said the wages for many public sector workers would increase by 150 per cent.

Gaddafi has also offered money to anybody who betrays rat demonstrators and hands them over to the authorities.

And he has told his supporters to cleanse' the streets of opponents, blaming the revolt on terrorist warlord Osama Bin Laden, and drug addicts.

Around Tripoli fierce battles have been fought but nowhere Col Gaddafi has chosen to fight has returned to his grasp.
Troops opened fire with anti-aircraft guns and other heavy weapons on demonstrators holed-up in a mosque at al-Zawiyah, just 30 miles from the Libyan capital. Local doctors estimated that some 100 people had died already.

There were also clashes in Misurata, around 150 miles east of Tripoli, where mortars and rocket-propelled grenades were used on protestors near the town's airport.

A few hours before the United Nations Security Council was to meet in Geneva to discuss the situation in Libya with sanctions the possible imposition, Friday, the Libyan leader, Muammar Al Qathafi addressed a crowd of supporters at the Green Square in Tripoli, telling them: “We can defeat any aggression if necessary and arm the people”.  The eastern half of the country is already lost to Col Gaddafi.

In the second city of Benghazi on Friday thousands celebrated liberation from his yoke and vowed to march on Col Gaddafi's palace in Tripoli.
"I have many friends in Benghazi and we want to go to Tripoli," said Essam al-Mansouri, who was at the forefront of an attack on the last stronghold of pro-Gaddafi forces in the capital. "We have many guns from the army. If Gaddafi doesn't leave, we will have to go to his palace."

As the revolution pushes into Col Gaddafi's strongest enclaves, the end cannot be far away.