In the main square in Tripoli, crowds of teenagers, young men and security officers turned out overnight for a government-sponsored rally, spraying gunfire into the air, setting off fireworks and waving green Libyan flags.

The gathering appeared to have been organized in an attempt to reassure Libyans that the regime was standing strong three months into an uprising that has left most of the east in rebel hands, halted the country's oil exports and drawn in a punishing NATO air campaign against Gaddafi's forces. Gaddafi's regime has also been hit by a wave of defections.

Late on Wednesday, Libya's deputy foreign minister, Khaled Kaim, denied rumors that Gaddafi's wife and daughter had fled to neighboring Tunisia. "They are in Tripoli; they are safe," he said. He also denied that Oil Minister Shukri Ghanem defected, saying he was in Vienna on business.

AP