REUTERS: Heavy automatic weapons fire erupted in the Libyan capital Tripoli Sunday, the first such outbreak in Muammar Gaddafi's main stronghold in a two-week-old insurrection against his 41-year-old rule.
Government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim denied any fighting was under way in Tripoli, saying the gunfire was staged to fete the army's recapture of several cities from rebel forces.
It was unclear who was doing the shooting, which started just before daybreak, or what had caused it. Machine gun volleys, some of them heavy caliber, reverberated around central Tripoli along with ambulance sirens, pro-Gaddafi chants, and a cacophony of car horns as vehicles sped through the vicinity.
"These are celebrations because government forces have taken control of all areas to Benghazi and are in the process of taking control of Benghazi," Ibrahim said, referring to Libya's rebel-controlled second largest city situated in the far east.
State television reported that government forces had retaken the important coastal cities of Zawiyah and Misrata, to the immediate west and east of Tripoli, and were also heading for Benghazi, where the opposition National Libyan Council has set up a crisis committee, in a quest for foreign recognition.
The state television report provided no details and, with poor communication affecting all areas outside Tripoli, there was no immediate way to confirm the battlefield turnaround. Rebel spokesmen could not be reached for comment. >>> Maria Golovnina | Tripoli | Sunday, March 06, 2011
