Libyan troops captured by rebels in Misrata confirmed today the army had been ordered to retreat from the western port after enforcing a government siege for nearly two months during which hundreds of civilians died.
"We have been told to withdraw. We were told to withdraw yesterday," one army soldier, Khaled Dorman, told Reuters.
Lying in the back of a pickup truck, he was among 12 wounded soldiers brought to a hospital for treatment in Misrata, which is about 200 km (130 miles) east of Tripoli. Blasts and machine gun fire were heard in the distance.
Another serviceman, asked by a Reuters correspondent if the government had lost control over Misrata, said "yes."
Rebel spokesman Gemal Salem later told Reuters by telephone from Misrata that Muammar Gadafy's forces had left the city but remained outside and would be in a position to bombard it.
"Misrata is free, the rebels have won. Of Gadafy's forces, some are killed and others are running away," he said.
Mr Salem said the rebels in Misrata would now help those elsewhere in western Libya against Col Gadafy's forces, who cracked down on the west early on in the uprising against the Libyan leader's 41-year-old rule after the east fell to the rebels.
The Libyan government acknowledged late on Friday the siege had been broken when rebels seized the port and air strikes had taken their toll. "The tactic of the Libyan army is to have a surgical solution, but it doesn't work, with the air strikes it doesn't work," deputy foreign minister Khaled Kaim said.
"The situation in Misrata will be eased, will be dealt with by the tribes around Misrata and the rest of Misrata's people and not by the Libyan army," he told reporters in Tripoli.
Another rebel spokesman in Misrata, Mr Abdelsalam, said pro-Gadafy tribes were in a minority in the area:
"There are two small pro-Gadafy settlements outside Misrata. They make less than one percent of the population of Misrata and the surrounding area."
"Those people know that when Gadafy's regime falls, they will fall with it," he added, predicting the government would boost their strength by paying mercenaries to pose as tribesmen.
Mr Salem said rebels were now combing Misrata and clearing the streets. Before leaving, he said, Col Gadafy's forces had booby-trapped bodies, houses and cars.
"One man was opening his fridge when he went to his house after the Gadafy forces left it this morning and it blew up in his face. Bodies the same. When the rebels are trying to lift a body it blows up," he said.
"We have had three people killed because of that and 15 wounded."
Reuters