Gunfire in Tripoli near Gaddafi's compound

TRIPOLI: gunshots rang out nearby fortified compound supported Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in Tripoli on Friday, and residents reported seeing snipers on rooftops and pools of blood in the streets.

It was unclear what triggered long bursts of machine guns and automatic weapons fire echoing through the city center for about 20 minutes and stopped before dawn.

Cars were heard at a brisk pace on the streets of Tripoli Central squeal of tires on asphalt. Distant shouting and singing was also heard.

"There were pools of blood in the streets. You will not find anything now.

It was watered and cleaned by fire trucks, "said a resident of Tripoli.

Gunfire is often heard in Tripoli where people like to shoot their guns into the air in celebration or distrust, but Friday's episode was different and looked like a shootout, witnesses said.

The testimony could not be independently verified because journalists in Tripoli are not allowed to report freely.

State forces have prevailed against all forms of dissent in Tripoli since the beginning of a rising anti-Qadhafi in February.

But the city has been on the board these days, people with anxiety exacerbated by fuel shortages and queues of increasingly long outside bakeries and gas stations.

With the air defense of Qaddafi paralyzed by air strikes in the West, cracks in its hold on power began to emerge this week with the defection of a senior minister in Britain.

Security was tightened around Tripoli, army checkpoints and made their appearance in the city where many streets are adorned with large portraits of Kadhafi.

The roar of jet engines was heard regularly in the sky over Tripoli that Western forces will continue to implement UN-authorized no-fly zone over Libya.