LIBYA is celebrating today after the death of ousted dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

Muammar Gaddafi, who ruled Libya with an iron fist for 42 years, was killed today as rebel troops overran the last pockets of loyalist resistance in his home-town Sirte.

The death of toppled Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi was today hailed by the UK's Prime Minister David Cameron as a step towards a “strong and democratic future” for the north African country.

Muammar Gaddafi has been killed, Libyan Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril said today.

Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi is still a serious threat to its new government, the country’s acting prime minister has warned.

The US increased support for Libya’s new leaders today as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a surprise visit to Tripoli and pledged millions of dollars in extra aid.

Libya’s de facto leader said today he is optimistic the former rebels will declare total victory over forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi in less than a week, opening the way for a transitional government to be formed within a month.

Libyan revolutionary forces fired rockets into the western half of Muammar Gaddafi's home town today as hundreds of residents streamed out of the city to flee the fighting.

LIBYA’S leaders have named a new cabinet and promised to step down after the country is fully secured, putting an end to weeks of political infighting.

The head of Libya’s National Transitional Council said today an interim government will be announced in the coming week.

Nato airstrikes pounded an area in Muammar Gaddafi’s hometown today, fighters said, while revolutionary forces surrounding the city came under rocket fire.

NICOLAS SARKOZY and David Cameron landed in Libya to a heroes’ welcome yesterday, promising help for the new rulers French and British air power helped install and being told the favour may be repaid in oil and reconstruction deals.

Sharp splits are already emerging in the ranks of Libya's new rulers between Islamic conservatives and more secular figures competing for power even as the leadership begins to settle in Tripoli.

Muammar Gaddafi supporters rocketed a front line south of Tripoli today, testing the patience of the country’s new leaders as a grace period for the holdouts to surrender runs out.

The acting prime minister for Libya’s new rulers has appealed for national unity to rebuild the country while calling Moammar Gaddafi a figure of the past.

DOZENS of decomposing bodies were found piled up yesterday in an abandoned hospital in Tripoli, a grim testament to the chaos roiling the capital as Libyan rebels clash with forces still loyal to Muammar Gaddafi.

MUAMMAR GADDAFI taunted his Libyan enemies and their Western backers last night as rebel forces battled pockets of loyalists across Tripoli in an urgent quest to find and silence the fugitive strongman.

Libyans hunting Muammar Gaddafi have offered a $2m (€1.3m) bounty on the fallen dictator’s head and amnesty for anyone who kills or captures him as rebels battled to clear the last pockets of resistance from the capital Tripoli.

The head of Libya’s rebel cabinet is heading to Italy for a meeting with Premier Silvio Berlusconi on a European diplomatic tour aimed at securing the release of billions of dollars in frozen Libyan assets.

The head of Libya’s opposition government is travelling to France and will meet President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has championed the drive to oust Muammar Gaddafi.

Libya’s rebels began as a disparate group of former government insiders, Western-leaning intellectuals, businessmen and even a smattering of ex-Islamist militants.

LIBYAN rebel Husam Najjair seems more concerned about the possibility of rebels turning on each other when they try to take control of the capital Tripoli than the threat posed by forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi.