Muammar Gaddafi has taunted his Libyan enemies as rebel forces battled pockets of loyalists across Tripoli in an ever more urgent quest to find and silence the fugitive strongman.
Rumours of Gaddafi or his sons being cornered, even sighted, swirled among excitable rebel fighters engaged in heavy machinegun and rocket exchanges.
But two days after his compound was overrun, hopes of a swift end to six months of war were still being frustrated by fierce rearguard actions.
Western powers demanded Gaddafi's surrender and worked to release frozen Libyan state funds, hoping to ease hardships and start reconstruction in the oil-rich state.
But with loyalists holding out in the capital, in Gaddafi's coastal home city and deep in the inland desert, violence could go on for some time, testing the ability of the government in waiting to keep order.
Diehards numbering perhaps in the hundreds were keeping at bay squads of irregular, anti-Gaddafi fighters who had swept into the capital on Sunday and who were now rushing from one site to another, firing assault rifles, machineguns and anti-aircraft cannon bolted to the backs of pick-up trucks.
In a southern district close to the notorious prison of Abu Salim, the rebel forces launched a concerted assault, sweeping from house to house.
While random gunfire broke out periodically across the city, some of its two million residents ventured out to stock up on supplies.
Aid agencies sounded an alarm about food, water and also medical supplies, especially for hundreds of wounded.
But the new leadership said it had found huge stockpiles in Tripoli which would meet all demands for food, drugs and fuel.
In another sign of optimism, the official taking charge of financial and energy affairs told Reuters that Libya hoped to resume exporting crude oil next month and that damage to oil facilities during the fighting had been less than feared.
Nonetheless, in order to begin installing an administration in a nation run by an eccentric personality cult for 42 years, to offer jobs to young men now bearing arms and to heal ethnic, tribal and other divisions that have been exacerbated by civil war, Libya's new masters are anxious for hard cash quickly.
After a meeting of officials in Istanbul, the Contact Group of allies against Gaddafi called on Libyans to avoid revenge.
Gaddafi's opponents fear that he may rally an insurgency, as did Saddam Hussein in Iraq, should he remain at large and, perhaps, in control of funds salted away for such a purpose.
Western powers, mindful of the bloodshed in Iraq, have made clear they do not want to engage their troops in Libya. But a U.S. State Department spokeswoman said Washington would look favourably on any Libyan request for U.N. police assistance -- something some say might aid a transition to democracy.
Rebel leaders, offering a million-dollar reward, say the war will be over only when Gaddafi is found, "dead or alive".
The ex-international high representative in Bosnia, Paddy Ashdown, told Reuters there was a need for speed if Libya's new rulers were to avoid a lingering threat from their predecessor, unlike what transpired in the former Yugoslavia and Iraq.
The US and NATO are also deeply concerned about possible looting and resale of weapons from Libyan arsenals as Muammar Gaddafi's rule crumbles, though the US State Department said it believes Libya's stocks of concentrated uranium and mustard agent are secure.
With fighting raging in Tripoli, there was evidence of the kind of bitter bloodletting in recent days that the rebel leaders are anxious to stop in the interests of uniting Libyans, including former Gaddafi supporters, in a democracy.
Elsewhere, the United States and South Africa have struck a deal to allow the release of $1.5bn (€1.04bn) in frozen Libya funds for humanitarian aid and other civilian needs.
Council diplomats have said that the agreement would enable the funds to be released without a UN Security Council vote.
Rebels announce transfer to Tripoli
Libya's rebels have announced that the transfer of their leadership to Tripoli from their Benghazi base, boosted by a United Nations decision to release millions of dollars of cash aid within days.
Ali Tahuni, the executive committee's vice-chairman and minister of oil and economics, said NTC head Mustafa Abdel Jalil would arrive in Tripoli as soon as the security situation permitted.
Meanwhile, Muammar Gaddafi's onetime right-hand man Abdel Salam Jalloud has said he plans to form a secular political party with an eye towards future elections in Libya.
Jalloud defected to the rebels before they overran most of the capital Tripoli on Tuesday, forcing Gaddafi into hiding.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International has said that both sides in the conflict in Libya must ensure that detainees in their custody are not tortured or ill-treated.
This follows reports of first hand testimonies of human rights violations from survivors at the hands of both pro-Gaddafi soldiers and rebel forces.
Pro-Gaddafi sources defiant
Libya's pro-Gaddafi television station claims that NATO planes are bombing the city of Sirte one of the last bastions of Muammar Gaddafi's regime.
Many fear the uprising, the bloodiest so far of the Arab Spring, could fall apart if funds are not forthcoming.
Al-Jamahiriya television went off the air on Monday after rebel forces took over its headquarters in Tripoli but it maintains a Facebook page.
