They also swarmed through the extensive grounds where Gaddafi once kept camels and where his supporters gathered throughout the current NATO bombing campaign to serve as human shields defending their leader.  There was no sign of Gaddafi, and many Libyans suspect he may have long since moved out of the walled compound, which has been a frequent target of NATO attacks.  This was undeniably the seat of his power, however. The tent in which he received visiting dignitaries was erected on the lawn, now overrun by rebel pickup trucks mounted with antiaircraft guns and fighters flashing victory signs. Gaddafi delivered his first defiant speech at the beginning of the uprising from the bombed-out house, and state television regularly broadcast footage of him driving himself through the grounds in his golf cart, greeting supporters.  The rebels stormed the stronghold after fighting pitched battles with Gaddafi loyalist forces there and in various other parts of the capital.  The assault, which ended with rebels celebrating victory, came hours after Gaddafi’s son emerged publicly to exhort supporters and taunt the rebels who pushed into the city over the weekend.  For hours earlier, Gaddafi’s forces and rebel fighters had battled with heavy machine guns, antiaircraft weapons and mortars around the Bab al-Aziziya compound, and other clashes were reported near the airport, which was seized by rebels Monday.  Hundreds of rebel fighters later broke into the compound, pouring inside and firing their weapons into the air in celebration after pro-Gaddafi forces ended their resistance, Reuters said.  Al-Jazeera Arabic reported that NATO warplanes bombed the Bab al-Aziziya compound earlier Tuesday in the latest of a series of airstrikes since March that have left the Gaddafi stronghold heavily damaged.  Gunfire could also be heard near the Rixos hotel, where foreign journalists stay and where Gaddafi’s son, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, appeared early Tuesday to refute rebel assertions that he had been captured. He also claimed that loyalist forces “are winning” the battle for Tripoli, the potentially decisive fight of the six-month-old rebellion.  Saif al-Islam spoke after loyalist attacks forced rebels to retreat from several strategic locations Monday. His appearance tempered the rebels’ earlier hopes that the battle for Tripoli was all but over.  In Benghazi, the rebel capital in eastern Libya, a spokesman for the rebel forces said Gaddafi loyalists withdrew from the coastal town of Ras Lanouf on Tuesday afternoon as rebels from the east advanced toward Bin Jawwad for the first time in months. Col. Ahmed Bani said the loyalist forces retreated to Sirte, Gaddafi’s home town and a bastion of his tribal supporters. Sirte lies on the coastal highway between Benghazi and Tripoli, effectively cutting off the east from western Libya.
Libyan rebels stormed Moammar Gaddafi’s main Tripoli stronghold Tuesday and claimed to have captured it after pitched battles.