Heavy gunfire heard in Tripoli

Fighting erupted in Tripoli late on Saturday as the rebels closed in on the capital by claiming a third key city in 24 hours and predicted Moamer Kadhafis 42-year-old rule was on its last legs.Blasts and gunfire rocked Tripoli after the break of thedawn-to-dusk fast of Ramadan and witnesses reported fighting in the eastern neighbourhoods of Soug Jomaa and Arada.An official queried by reporters was unable to confirm the fighting, which came after news that Kadhafis former right-hand man had fled to Italy and rebel claims that victory was within reach, six months after launching their insurgency.We have contacts with people from the inner circle of Kadhafi, said the chairman of the rebel National Transitional Council (NTC). All evidence (shows) that the end is very near, with Gods grace.Abdel Jalil was speaking to reporters as a flurry of rumours suggested that Kadhafi was preparing to flee Libya.I expect a catastrophic end for him and his inner circle, and I expect that he will a create a situation within Tripoli. I hope my expectation is wrong, Abdel Jalil said, before the latest fighting in the capital.That would be a good thing that will end the bloodshed and help us avoid material costs. But I do not expect that he will do that, Abdel Jalil added.Rebels were jubilant after claiming to have captured the strategic eastern oil hub of Brega, a day after saying they had seized Zawiyah and Zliten, two other key towns.However, rebel Colonel Ahmed Omar Bani said retreating Kadhafi forces were shelling the citys industrial zone on Saturday and that his men had pulled back to its eastern edge to avoid unnecessary casualties and property damage.Meanwhile, the rebels said former premier Abdessalam Jalloud, who fell out of favour with the Libyan strongman in the mid-1990s but remains a popular figure, had defected and joined their ranks.Yet both they and the regime downplayed the significance of his departure, after he reportedly flew to Italy from neighbouring Tunisia with his family.The official JANA news agency simply said Jalloud had remained away from politics out of his own free will, and spent most of his time abroad for (medical) care for heart disease.He was among the officers who grabbed power with Kadhafi in 1969 and was long considered the regimes second-in-command before being gradually sidelined in the 1990s.Prime minister during the 1970s, he retired from politics following his dispute with Kadhafi and lived under hour arrest.On the ground, a top-ranking rebel official said of Brega, the industrial zone is under our control; all Brega is now under our control.In Zawiyah, families were fleeing the battle-scarred city in cars and pickups loaded with personal possessions, a day after the rebels claimed it had fallen as they advanced on Tripoli from the west.Queues of cars hundreds of metres long snaked out of petrol stations after rebels decided to distribute fuel from the nearby refinery for free.The refinery is the only source of fuel to Tripoli, and could leave it without critical supplies.At the start of the main road heading south, rebels set up a checkpoint with a list of names of informants whom they accused of having helped Kadhafis fighters in their now-lost battle for the city..