Gadhafi proclaims victories as battles continue

Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- Throngs of people took part in a boisterous demonstration Sunday supporting Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and insisting that the government had triumphed in recovering key Libyan cities, despite witness accounts that the opposition maintained control in some of those sites.

In the eastern Libyan town of Misrata, a fierce battle was under way Sunday, as people seeking an end to Gadhafi's 42-year-rule fought his heavily armed forces.

"People are willing to die for the cause," a witness told CNN, describing them as "fearless" and "amazing." The rebels are using machine guns or, in some cases, just sticks to fight off pro-Gadhafi forces who use tanks and heavy artillery.

Even as the witness described the heavy fighting under way, pro-Gadhafi demonstrators in the capital of Tripoli said they were celebrating the government's victory in Misrata.

The size of such rallies praising the 68-year-old leader do not offer a clear sign of how much support he actually has. Throughout the uprising, which began February 15, witnesses in Tripoli have described the government using all methods to drum up crowds, including forcibly dragging people to them, while keeping anti-Gadhafi demonstrators off the streets.

On Sunday, police forces searched cars to try to ensure that no anti-Gadhafi protesters were out on the streets, though some still managed to venture out, another witness said.

Traces of bullets and blood could be seen in some districts near Tripoli's Green Square, and people were mopping the streets and cleaning the walls, the witness said.

A government official said early-morning gunfire heard in the Libyan capital was celebratory, marking the army's victory in the city of Zawiya and its presence in the strategic oil town of Ras Lanuf. However, the government did not allow CNN to enter Zawiya to independently verify the claim.

Ras Lanuf, meanwhile, appeared firmly under the control of rebels.

On Saturday, opposition forces had claimed two major successes: preventing pro-government forces from taking Zawiya and capturing Ras Lanuf along the coast.

Libyan state TV said Sunday the people in Green Square were also celebrating the army gaining control of the eastern port city of Tobruk. "Morning victory, oh people of Libya. Victory city of Tobruk from terrorist gangs," the station said.

Witnesses in Tobruk said those towns were still under opposition control.

Gadhafi seemed to be "building up expectations," making promises of victory to create an impression that the government was making head way, CNN's Nic Robertson reported from Tripoli.

The witness in Misrata told CNN that people there reported Gadhafi's forces using six tanks to combat the opposition. The tanks fired rockets at the courthouse, which the opposition was using as its center of operations, and black smoke could be seen rising from the building, the witness said.

He spoke to CNN amid a gunbattle between pro-Gadhafi militias and the opposition, he said.

CNN has not been identifying the witnesses for their safety.

Meanwhile, negotiations between senior British officials and senior opposition leaders in Libya were under way Sunday to secure the release of eight British special forces troops detained in eastern Libya by opposition forces, two sources close to the opposition told CNN.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Sunday that "there is a small British diplomatic team in Benghazi. We are in contact with them. ... We are in contact with the people who are on the opposition side in Libya and I have spoken to a couple of their leaders over the last few days."

On Saturday, Libyan opposition leaders announced an alternative government as the United States and other countries helped evacuate refugees of the conflict.

Rebels near Ras Lanuf said they shot down a Libyan air force plane, a Soviet-made Sukhoi Su-24MK that crashed in the desert. CNN located the plane's debris, spread over a kilometer (about half a mile), with the headless bodies of two pilots at the site.

The plane was printed with the emblem of the Libyan Arab Air Force.

After capturing Ras Lanuf on Saturday, emboldened opposition members said they prepared to advance west to Gadhafi's birthplace of Sirte.

Government forces, however, worked to thwart their push. CNN reporters following the movement of rebels in As Sidr, just west of Ras Lanuf, saw an air force helicopter pound opposition positions. There was no word on casualties.

On Saturday, a pro-democracy activist in Tripoli who spoke to CNN described a city filled with tension and mistrust. The woman, who asked not to be named because of fears for her safety, said she has seen people in the streets who, she believes, are monitoring residents' comings and goings and phone conversations.

"I see cars that have people inside them, and they are usually connected with a computer," the woman said, adding that special antennae are connected to the computers.

The same people are also interrupting cell phone signals and hacking mobiles, she said, and the internet has been unavailable since Thursday.

The strife engulfing the besieged north African nation is reverberating across the country, the region and the world. Death toll estimates range from more than 1,000 to as many as 2,000, and the international community has been pondering strategies on how to end the violence and remove the Gadhafi regime.

The government has been reviled across the globe for violence against civilians, and the International Criminal Court has launched an investigation of Gadhafi, some of his sons and other leaders for possible crimes against humanity.

Opposition-controlled radio announced Saturday that the country's sole legitimate representative was now the National Transitional Council, a group with 31 representatives for most of the regions in Libya.

The council held its first meeting Saturday in the eastern city of Benghazi. It called Benghazi its temporary location until the "liberation" of the capital, according to a decree the council issued late in the day.

Former Justice Minister Mustafa Abdeljeleel, whom the council said had tried to resign from Gadhafi's government several times, was announced as the council's new leader.

The council also named a representative for military affairs and established a military council to oversee the "liberation" of Libya and reconstruct the armed forces, according to the radio announcement.

The council said its main missions are to represent all of Libya internationally, liberate the country, draft a constitution and hold elections.

In Benghazi, witnesses said forces loyal to Gadhafi pounded a weapons depot, an airstrike that caused casualties and widespread damage.

One witness said the airstrike was powerful enough "to destroy a whole city." News footage showed the remains of buildings and debris and ambulances arriving.

Such aerial attacks have prompted the West to step up discussions about imposing a no-fly zone over Libya. U.S. military and diplomatic officials have said such a zone would be complicated and risky, and international support for it is not strong.

"If it's ordered, we can do it," U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said last week, but imposing a no-fly zone "begins with an attack on Libya to destroy the air defenses."

The fierce fighting has sparked the flight of Libyans and foreigners out of Libya, with nations across the globe scrambling to help people leave.

Almost 200,000 people have fled Libya with nearly equal numbers going to Tunisia and Egypt, the United Nations refugee agency said.

The United States announced Saturday it is contributing $3 million to the International Organization for Migration to help return home thousands of non-Libyans who fled to Tunisia.

A few thousand Egyptians were in Tunisia awaiting travel home Saturday, and more than 10,000 Bangladeshis there were awaiting evacuation with hundreds more still arriving, said Firas Kayal, spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.

The agency confirmed that a Bangladeshi migrant worker died after a heart attack from the exhaustion of walking to the border. Many migrant workers told aid workers they had to walk to the border because soldiers took their money and they couldn't afford paying for a taxi.

On Sunday, Greek officials said three people died while apparently trying to disembark a ship headed from the Libyan capital of Tripoli to Crete.

"From the evidence gathered so far, it appears the passengers were trying to disembark the 'Ionian King' (Cypriot flag) using a rope," the Greek Ministry for the Protection of Civilians said in a statement.

"The ship set sail from Tripoli, Libya, Saturday evening for the port of Souda, Crete, carrying approximately 1,288 passengers, mostly Bangladeshi nationals," the ministry said. It said an array of boats were dispatched, and dozens of people were pulled from the water.

Officials said 14 people are still missing.