利比亚叛军攻入首都的黎波里

This was a sight they thought they would never see: Green square, in the center of Tripoli, in the hands of the rebels.

Everything connected to Colonel Gaddafi was torn down, burned or defaced. They have waited more than 40 years for this, but even as they were celebrating, the Colonel's spokesman was urging NATO to step in, insisting the rebels were only bent on the revenge with just hatred in their hearts.

"I don't think anyone who's set off on doing this morning expected to see this. They've taken just a day to reach Green Square. And my goodness, this is going to be a party."

Just hours earlier, the rebels had swept through the Khamis Brigade headquarters on the outskirts of the capital. This was once the most feared wing of Colonel Gaddafi's military with files on all those considered disloyal to the Colonel. Now the rebels were helping themselves to whatever they wanted. The rebels have moved through town after town between Zawiya and Tripoli, meeting little resistance along the way.

And as they pushed forward into the capital, in just one day, the roads were choked with vehicles packed full of people who wanted to overthrow the regime. As they edged closer to the center, the residents came out of their homes in their hundreds, greeting the rebels like heroes. But there is an underlying fear of the regime and confusion of exactly where his troops have gone.

The hospital's been inundated with casualties from the battlefield fighting and from snipers. Suddenly the euphoria in the square seems an awful long way away.