Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's forces quit the frontlines of the eastern oil town of Brega today and are fleeing west towards the strongman's bastion of Sirte, a rebel military spokesman said.

"Brega is fully under our control," Mohammed Zawiwa told AFP in the rebel headquarters of Benghazi.

"Gaddafi's forces have fled west toward Sirte," he added.

Brega, located 240km southwest of the rebel capital of Benghazi, has changed hands several times since the conflict began. It is located on the coastal road from Benghazi to Tripoli.

NONE Meanwhile, Libyan rebel chief Mustafa Abdel Jalil this evening hailed the end of the four-decade "Gaddafi era", after his fighters took control of most of Tripoli.

But Mustafa also warned that he could quit as head of the rebel National Transitional Council (NTC) if he loses control of the revolution, amid possible revenge acts by insurgents.

"The Gaddafi era is over," he told a news conference in Benghazi, eastern Libya, referring to Libya's veteran leader Gaddafi.

Mustafa said he hoped Gaddafi, who faces an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court, would be "captured alive, so that he will be given a fair trial".

He congratulated the Libyan people "for this historic victory" and thanked Nato for its military support, while cautioning that "the real moment of victory is when Gaddafi is captured".

He acknowledged the whole of Tripoli was not under rebel control and that Gaddafi's whereabouts remained a mystery.

Mustafa, a former justice minister who chairs the NTC, also called upon "our revolutionaries to respect the law and to let justice take its course", rather than to let rip with revenge attacks.

'Actions of some followers worry me'

"I hail the leaders of these groups and I trust their words but some actions of some of their followers worry me. This might be the reason or the cause of my resignation," he said.

But he added: "My role after the fall (of Gaddafi) will continue, unless I lose control of the goals and inspiration that I aim for... but I expect that revolutionaries will be up to the responsibility."

He opposed any attempt by insurgents to seek retribution.

"My fear is some outlawed actions which are outside of the framework of orders they get from their leaders, especially acts of revenge... I object strongly to any execution outside the framework of the law," Mustafa said.

"Revolutionaries are the bases of this revolution. They led the revolution against the regime by peaceful demonstrations, and then took the burden of military battles and to provide security within our cities."

Meanwhile, in Rome, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi called on Gaddafi to give himself up and expressed Italy's solidarity with the rebels in their battle to take Tripoli.

"We ask Colonel Gaddafi to put an end to every pointless resistance and to save, in this way, his people from further suffering," Berlusconi said in a statement.

He also called on the NTC to "face up to the transition towards democracy with courage", adding that the Italian government "is by their side".

- AFP