Poor neighbourhoods of the Libyan capital Tripoli openly defied Muammar Gadafy today as his grip on power after 41 years of rule looked increasingly tenuous in the face of nationwide revolt.
Security forces had abandoned the working-class Tajoura district after five days of anti-government demonstrations, residents told foreign correspondents who visited the area.
The residents said troops opened fire on demonstrators who tried to march from Tajoura to central Green Square overnight, killing at least five people. The number could not be independently confirmed.
A funeral this morning for one of the victims turned into another show of defiance against Gadafy.
"Everyone in Tajoura came out against the government. We saw them killing our people here and everywhere in Libya," a 25-year-old man who identified himself as Ali said. "We will demonstrate again and again, today, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow until they change."
The scene in Tajoura contradicted statements by Gadafy's son Saif al-Islam Gadafy, who told reporters last night that peace was returning to Libya.
Much of the east of the oil-producing country, including the second city Benghazi, is in opposition forces' hands.
Col Gadafy's strongest European ally, Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, said in Rome today that he no longer appeared to be in control of Libya.
Foreign powers met to discuss punitive actions against Col Gadafy and expressed outrage at the tactics used to try to crush the revolt, the bloodiest of a wave of pro-democracy uprisings in the Arab world which has already swept away the longtime rulers of Tunisia and Egypt.
In Washington, US president Barack Obama signed an order prohibiting transactions related to Libya.
"By any measure, Muammar Gadafy's government has violated international norms and common decency and must be held accountable," Mr Obama said in a statement.
Diplomats at the United Nations said a vote on a draft resolution calling for an arms embargo on Libya as well as travel bans and asset freezes on its leaders might come on Saturday after U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said it could not wait.
In Tajoura, protesters had erected barricades of rocks and palm trees across rubbish-strewn streets, and graffiti covered many walls.
Pro-Gadafy security forces were nowhere to be seen this morning but bullet holes in the walls of the tightly packed houses bore testimony to the violence of recent days.
Several thousand people attended the funeral of one of the dead from last night's shooting, which quickly turned into another demonstration.
"Gadafy is the enemy of God," the crowd chanted.
One man named Ismail, who said he was unemployed, told Reuters: "Gadafy forces came here, they shot everywhere during a demonstration that was peaceful." Another man said he had seen 20 dead bodies in past two days.
Col Gadafy's camp took an optimistic view of the situation confronting the man who took over Libya as a young colonel in a 1969 military coup.
"Peace is coming back to our country," Saif al-Islam Gadafy told reporters flown into Libya under close government supervision. "If you hear fireworks don't mistake it for shooting."
He acknowledged pro-Gadafy forces had "a problem" with Misrata, Libya's third city, and Zawiyah, also in the west, where protesters had beaten back counter-attacks by the military, but he said the army was prepared to negotiate.
"Hopefully there will be no more bloodshed. By tomorrow we will solve this," he said.
A government-escorted trip to Zawiyah for the foreign media planned for this morning was called off.
Reuters