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reuters

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's four-decade-old rule appeared in increasing jeopardy on Monday when days of anti-government protests reached the capital for the first time and security forces killed dozens of people.

Military aircraft fired live ammunition at crowds of anti-government protesters in the capital Tripoli, Al Jazeera television said on Monday quoting witnesses. No independent verification of the report was immediately available.

Residents said several cities in the east appeared to be in the hands of the opposition as protests spread from Benghazi, the cradle of a popular uprising that threatens to overthrow one of the Arab world's most entrenched governments.

One of Gaddafi's sons said the veteran leader would fight the revolt until "the last man standing".

Protesters rallied in Tripoli's streets, tribal and religious leaders spoke out against Gaddafi, and army units defected to the opposition in a revolt that has cost the lives of more than 200 people.

Some analysts suggested Libya was heading for civil war.

"Libya is the most likely candidate for civil war because the government has lost control over part of its own territory," said Shadi Hamid, director of research at the Brookings Doha Centre in Qatar.

"I think what's going to happen is going to be much more chaotic than what we saw in Egypt or Tunisia. Gaddafi and his sons don't have anywhere else to go...They are going to fight," said North Africa analyst Geoff Porter, contributor to political risk consultancy Wikistrat.