Updated: Adds report of heavy gunfire in parts of Tripoli, Maltese coming home -
Protesters in the Libyan capital Tripoli sacked the headquarters of state television overnight and set offices of the People's Committees that are the mainstay of the regime ablaze, witnesses told AFP by telephone this morning.
Meanwhile, Spain's Foreign Minister Trinidad Jimenez said the European Union is considering the evacuation of its citizens from Libya, particularly from the eastern opposition stronghold of Benghazi.
The Maltese foreign ministry yesterday issued a warning against non-essential travel to Libya and a number of Maltese who work in Libya are reported to be planning to leave the country as violence spreads.
Large parts of Benghazi, Libya's second city, are reportedly in the hands of protesters and intense gunfire was reported this morning in parts of Tripoli.
The son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi went on state television last night to proclaim that his father remained in charge with the army's backing and would "fight until the last man, the last woman, the last bullet".
Sayf al-Islam Gaddafi's comments came after anti-government unrest spread to the capital Tripoli and protesters seized military bases and weapons.
Several hundred Maltese work there and instability could threaten their jobs. Malta also has significant investment in Libya, with many Maltese companies having invested there in joint ventures with Libyan and other Arab interests. No trouble has been reported near the Bab Africa Hotel in Tripoli, the most prominent example of Maltese investment in Libya.
In another development which could have consequences on Malta, Libya has also warned the EU that if its countries continued to encourage the protesters, it would scrap an agreement to hold back migrants from crossing the Mediterranean.
Austria has sent a military aircraft to Malta on stand by to evacuate its citizens. It denied media claims that the plane was carrying weapons or medical aid for Libyan anti-government protesters.
Libya is also an oil producer and supply worries pushed up international prices this morning.
In the regime's first comments on the six days of demonstrations, the younger Gaddafi warned the protesters last night that they risked igniting a civil war in which Libya's oil wealth "will be burned".
His rambling and sometimes confused speech, lasting nearly 40 minutes, followed a fierce crackdown by security forces who fired on thousands of demonstrators and funeral marchers in the eastern city of Benghazi in a bloody cycle of violence that killed 60 people yesterday alone, according to a doctor in one city hospital.
Since the six days of unrest began, more than 200 people have been killed, according to medical officials, human rights groups and exiled dissidents.
Libya's response has been the harshest of any Arab country wracked by the protests that toppled long-serving leaders in neighbouring Tunisia and Egypt. But Gaddafi said his father would prevail.
"We are not Tunisia and Egypt," he said. "Muammar Gaddafi, our leader, is leading the battle in Tripoli, and we are with him."
"The armed forces are with him. Tens of thousands are heading here to be with him. We will fight until the last man, the last woman, the last bullet," he said.
Saif Gaddafi, who is the regime's face of reform, admitted that the army made some mistakes during the protests because the troops were not trained to deal with demonstrators, but he insisted that the number of dead had been exaggerated, giving a death toll of 84.
Western countries have expressed concern at the rising violence against demonstrators in Libya. Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague said he spoke to Gaddafi's son by phone and told him that the country must embark on "dialogue and implement reforms".
In the speech, Saif Gaddafi offered to put forward reforms within days that he described as a "historic national initiative" and said the regime was willing to remove some restrictions and begin discussions for a constitution.
He offered to change a number of laws, including those covering the media and the penal code.
Protesters had seized some military bases, tanks and other weapons, he said, blaming Islamists, the media, thugs, drunks and drug abusers and foreigners - including Egyptians and Tunisians.
He also admitted that the unrest had spread to Tripoli, with people firing in central Green Square before fleeing.
Dressed in a dark business suit, Saif Gaddafi wagged his finger frequently as he delivered his warnings. He said that if protests continued, Libya would slide back to "colonial" rule.
"You will get Americans and European fleets coming your way and they will occupy you," he said.
He threatened to "eradicate the pockets of sedition" and said the army would play a main role in restoring order.
"There has to be a firm stand," he said. "This is not the Tunisian or Egyptian army."
The rebellion by Libyans frustrated with Gaddafi's more than 40 years of authoritarian rule has spread to more than a half-dozen eastern cities - but also to Tripoli, where secret police were heavily deployed on the streets of the city of two million.
Armed security forces were seen on rooftops surrounding Green Square, a witness said by telephone. The witness added that a group of about 200 lawyers and judges were protesting inside a Tripoli court, which was also surrounded by security forces.
An exiled opposition leader in Cairo said hundreds of protesters were near the Bab al-Aziziya military camp where Gaddafi lives on Tripoli's outskirts. Faiz Jibril said his contacts inside Libya were also reporting that hundreds of protesters had gathered in another central plaza, Martyrs Square.
In other setbacks for Gaddafi's regime, a major tribe in Libya was reported to have turned against him and Libya's representative to the Arab League said he had resigned in protest at the government's decision to fire on the Benghazi demonstrators.
Khaled Abu Bakr, a resident of Sabratha, an ancient Roman city to the west, said protesters besieged the local security headquarters, driving out police and setting it on fire. He said residents were in charge and had set up neighbourhood committees to secure their city.
The internet has been largely shut down, residents can no longer make international calls from landlines and journalists cannot work freely, but eyewitness reports trickling out of the country suggested that protesters were fighting back more forcefully against the Middle East's longest-serving leader.
"We are not afraid. We won't turn back," said a teacher who identified herself only as Omneya. She said she was marching at the end of the funeral procession on a road beside the Mediterranean and heard gunfire from just over a mile away.
"If we don't continue, this vile man would crush us with his tanks and bulldozers. If we don't, we won't ever be free," she said.
The US State Department said today it was gravely concerned about reports of the protest killings.
Spokesman Philip Crowley said the US had raised strong objections with Libyan officials, including foreign minister Musa Kusa, about the use of lethal force against demonstrators.
Mr Crowley says the US reiterated "the importance of universal rights, including freedom of speech and peaceful assembly".
"We are not Tunisia and Egypt," the younger Gaddafi said, referring to the uprisings that toppled long-time regimes in neighbouring countries.
He acknowledged that the army made mistakes during protests because it was not trained to deal with demonstrators, but insisted that the number of dead had been exaggerated, giving a death toll of 84.
Human Rights Watch had put the number at 174 by Saturday and doctors in Benghazi said more than 200 had died since the protests began.
HEAVY GUNFIRE HEARD IN TRIPOLI
Intense gunfire was heard early this morning in the heart of the Libyan capital Tripoli and several quarters of the city for the first time since the anti-regime uprising, witnesses and an AFP journalist reported.
The bursts of gunfire intensified after a television speech by Sayf Gaddafi.
"We are hearing bursts of gunfire everywhere and they are approaching the city centre," a resident of the Al-Andalous quarter told AFP.
Another resident reported gunfire in the Mizran area, near downtown Tripoli.
A local of the working-class Gurgi area said security forces fired tear gas to disperse anti-government protesters.
"There are demonstrations. We are hearing anti-regime slogans and firing. Our house is filled with tear gas," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.