Libyan rebels are continuing to search for Muammar Gaddafi after claiming they had cornered the Colonel his sons in a Tripoli apartment complex, near to his compound Bab Al-Aziziya.
According to the Reuters news agency, Gaddafi loyalists inside the complex exchanged gunfire with resistance fighters.
One of the rebel fighters, Muhammad Gomaa, told Reuters: "They are together. They are in a small hole. Today we will end that".
Sky News showed footage of rebels gathering outside a building in Tripoli while the Associated Press said fierce battles had erupted near Gaddafi's compound, with 1,000 rebels fighting in the area.
There was no independent verification that Gaddafi or his sons are inside the apartment complex.
But as rebels fought loyalist TV station al-Orouba broadcast an apparent audio message from Gaddafi on Thursday in which he urged Libyans to "fight and destroy" rebels in Tripoli.
Elsewhere in Libya, rebel fighters have been moving into Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte, in the hope of finding him there, once they had breached his compound, only to find it empty.
Speaking to a local television channel on Wednesday, apparently by phone, Gaddafi vowed to fight "until victory or martyrdom."
As the siege went on, foreign secretary William Hague said the UK wanted to see the rebel National Transitional Council "more established" as the governing authority in Libya.
"We are very busy diplomatically getting more recognition for them in the world and freeing up assets for their use for humanitarian purposes and planning next week’s conference in Paris to give them further support", he told Sky News.
On Thursday evening the UN Security Council agreed to released $1.5bn in frozen assets to help the humanitarian situation in Libya.