20110228
reuters

ZAWIYAH, Libya (Reuters) - Armed rebels opposed to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi were in control of Zawiyah, some 50 km (30 miles) west of the capital Tripoli, on Sunday and their red, green and black flag flew above the town.

"This is our revolution", a crowd of several hundred people chanted, punching the air in the centre of the town. Some stood on top of a captured tank, while others crowded around an anti-aircraft gun. Women stood on top of buildings cheering on the men in the crowd below.

"Libya is the land of the free and honourable," a banner read. Another depicted Gaddafi's head with the body of a dog.

Bullet holes pock-marked charred buildings where the fighting had been most intense, while burned-out vehicles lay abandoned in the streets.

The scene in Zawiyah was another indication that Gaddafi's grip on power appeared to be shrinking by the day.

Reuters correspondents found residents even in some neighbourhoods of Tripoli proclaiming open defiance after government security forces melted away.

The U.N. Security Council unanimously imposed travel and asset sanctions on Gaddafi and close aides, ratcheting up pressure on him to quit before any more blood is shed.

The death toll from nearly two weeks of violence in Libya is estimated by diplomats at about 2,000.