The BBC's Kevin Connolly reports on the celebrations in Benghazi after rumours that Sirte had fallen to the rebels
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Coalition air raids have hit Muammar Gaddafi's birthplace of Sirte, a key target for westward-advancing rebels.
A Libyan government spokesman said three Libyan civilians had been killed in the city's port.
Unconfirmed rumours that rebels had taken Sirte sparked celebratory gunfire overnight in their stronghold Benghazi.
They came as Nato took full command of the whole military operation in Libya, intended to enforce a UN resolution to protect civilians.
Foreign correspondents in Sirte said they heard several loud explosions in the city as aircraft flew overhead.
A rebel spokesman in Benghazi said Sirte was now in the hands of rebel forces - but there has been no independent confirmation of the claim, and international journalists inside the city suggested it was still in government hands on Monday
Meanwhile, Qatar became the first Arab nation to recognise the rebel leadership - the Transitional National Council - as the official representatives of the Libyan people.
