Fighting breaks out near Gaddafi's Tripoli residence

Fierce fighting has again broken out near Colonel Gaddafi's residence between forces loyal to him and rebel fighters.

Fighting erupted again in Tripoli today hours after Muammar Gaddafi’s son turned up free to disprove rebel claims he had been captured.

The move seems to have energised forces still loyal to the embattled regime.

Rebels and pro-regime troops fought fierce street battles in several parts of the city, a day after opposition fighters swept into the capital with relative ease, claiming to have most of it under their control.

Thick clouds of grey and white smoke filled the Tripoli sky as heavy gunfire and explosions shook several districts.

Some of the heaviest fighting was around Gaddafi’s Bab al-Aziziya main compound and military barracks.

The compound, which has been heavily damaged by Nato airstrikes, has emerged as one of the centres of government resistance since tanks rolled out on Monday and began firing at rebels trying to get in.

Saif al-Islam’s sudden arrival at a Tripoli hotel where foreign journalists are staying threw the situation in the capital into confusion. The appearance of Gaddafi’s son and former heir apparent underlined the potential for the Libyan leader, whose whereabouts remain unknown, to strike back even as his grip on power seemed to be slipping fast.

Rebels say they control most of Tripoli, but they faced pockets of fierce resistance from regime loyalists firing mortars and anti-aircraft guns.

The rebel leadership seemed stunned that Saif al-Islam was free. A spokesman had no explanation and could only say, “This could be all lies.”

He could not confirm whether Saif al-Islam escaped rebel custody, but he did say that another captured Gaddafi son, Mohammed, had escaped the home arrest that rebels had placed him in a day earlier.

The Netherlands-based International Criminal Court – which indicted Saif al-Islam and his father – had announced his capture, but a spokesman admitted the court never received official confirmation from Libya’s rebel authorities that he had been arrested.

In Benghazi, the de facto rebel capital hundreds of miles east of Tripoli, the head of the rebel National Transitional Council said the rebels have no idea where the 69-year-old Gaddafi is or whether he is even in Tripoli.

“The real moment of victory is when Gaddafi is captured,” Mustafa Abdel-Jalil said.