BBC: As I write I can hear volleys of gunfire hammering around Tripoli. It is around 1430 on Sunday and since early morning supporters of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi have been out in the streets celebrating.They have been told - and seem to believe without question - that his forces have scored important victories. One of the government spokesmen said Zawiya, Misrata and Ras Lanuf had been recaptured from rebels, and that Col Gaddafi's forces were advancing on Benghazi, the epicentre of the rebellion.
Not long after first light, I went to Green Square, right in the middle of Tripoli and the place where true believers in the regime congregate to celebrate its triumphs.
A couple of thousand people were there - the numbers have grown since then - and the atmosphere was crackling with feverish celebration.
Young men had climbed on to speakers and were dancing to music that praised their leader. Women, many with small children, swayed and sang along.
Guns were everywhere, pistols as well as Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifles. Every so often their owners fired into the air. Someone was letting off fireworks as well.
There were green flags, green bandanas and green fringed posters of the colonel which kept getting kissed.
"Libya is united again," one man said. "We all love Gaddafi. He is our father and our brother. He is our leader." >>> Jeremy Bowen, BBC Middle East editor, Tripoli | Sunday, March 06, 2011
