Last updated at 1 a.m. Monday - Tripoli fell to the Libyan rebels tonight amid scenes of jubilation in Green Square, while the hunt was on for Muammar Gaddafi, whose whereabouts remained unknown. His son and heir apparent, Seif al-Islam, was reportedly captured.
The residents of Tripoli poured into the streets to celebrate as the rebels advanced into the heart of the Libyan capital and resistance evaporated.
Gunfire rang out in celebration, people hugged each other, water was thrown into the air and people shouted 'freedom, freedom' as a convoy of rebel vehicles drove into the city centre from Janzour in the West while more rebels advanced from Tajoura in the East.
Resistance from Gaddafi loyalists appeared to have disappeared, six months after the Libyan uprising started.
By midnight some of the rebels had reached Green Square and by 1 a.m. (Monday) the square was packed with a heaving, cheering crowd.
Earlier on Sunday the rebels captured the base of the Khamis Brigade, 16 miles west of the capital. After a brief gun battle, Gaddafi's forces fled what was once a major symbol of the regime's power. Many took off their uniforms.
Inside the base, hundreds of rebels cheered wildly and danced, raising the rebel flag on the front gate of a large wall enclosing the compound. They seized large stores of weapons, driving away with truckloads of whatever arms they could get their hands on.
The rebels also captured Mitiga military airport, making it impossible for Muammar Gaddafi to flee on an aircraft.
As town after town fell and Gaddafi forces melted away, the mood turned euphoric with the rebels not quite believing how they were not meeting resistance.
DEFIANT GADDAFI URGES PEOPLE TO FIGHT
Muammar Gaddafi in a short audio message shortly before midnight urged the people, men and women, to fight the 'armed gangs'
Meanwhile, the spokesman for the Libyan government, Moussa Ibrahim, warned at a press conference 30 minutes earlier, that a rebel victory would result in 'revenge crimes'. He claimed that thousands were ready to defend Muammar Gaddafi and there would be an 'unimaginable' number of deaths unless hostilities were stopped.
He blamed Nato for the evolving situation, saying crimes were already being committed in Tripoli.
Mr Ibrahim said that the death toll in the past 11 hours (up to 11.15 p.m.) had exceeded 1,300 and hospitals were overwhelmed with the wounded.
GADDAFI SON 'CAPTURED', ANOTHER SURRENDERS
Meanwhile, rebel leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil said that Gaddafi's son and heir apparent Seif al-Islam had been captured by the rebels.
The chairman of the rebel National Transitional Council told Al-Jazeera television from Benghazi in eastern Libya he had "information that Seif al-Islam has been captured."
"He is being kept in a secure place under close guard until he is handed over to the judiciary," Abdel Jalil said, without giving a date or place for the reported capture.
Another of Gaddafi's sons, Mohammed, was also said to have been captured.
PRESIDENTIAL GUARD 'HAS SURRENDERED'
Meanwhile, according to unconfirmed reports, Col Gaddafi's presidential guard surrendered as the rebels advanced into Green Square, the heart of Tripoli.
CELEBRATIONS IN MALTA - REBELS RAISE THEIR FLAG AT EMBASSY
Meanwhile, members of the Libyan community have been celebrating across the road from the Libyan embassy in Balzan.
The celebrations reached a crescendo at 12.28 a.m. (Monday) when a delegation from the crowd hoisted the old Libyan monarchy flag on the embassy building, replacing the all-green flag of the Gaddafi regime.
They chanted Libyan songs, shouted slogans against the Libyan regime and waved flags. Pictures of Muammar Gaddafi and the green flag of the Gaddafi regime were set on fire (see separate story and video at http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110821/local/libyans-in-malta-gathering-outside-embassy.381242 )