The escalating revolt against Gaddafi, which his deputy envoy to the United Nations said has killed thousands, emboldened tens of thousands of protesters across the Arab world to step up demands for historic reforms.
After protests in Tunisia and Egypt forced the resignations of longtime leaders Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and Hosni Mubarak, Libya's ruler of four decades appeared to dig in for a bitter fight to the end.
"We could still hear gunfire all night," one Tripoli resident said, saying that electricity had been cut overnight.
"We were terrified. We thought that meant they were preparing for attacks. We grabbed whatever we could use as weapons and stayed by the door in case anyone broke in."
In a rabble-rousing speech that presaged a bloody battle for the capital, Gaddafi told frenzied supporters in Tripoli's Green Square on Friday that the rebels would be defeated. "We will fight them and we will beat them," he told a crowd of hundreds.
"Sing, dance and prepare yourselves," the 68-year-old leader said. "If needs be, we will open all the arsenals."
Almost the entire east of the oil-rich North African nation has slipped from Gaddafi's control since the popular uprising began in the port city of Benghazi on February 15, inspired by revolutions in neighbouring Egypt and Tunisia.
US President Barack Obama imposed sanctions on Gaddafi and four of his sons in a clear attempt to weaken his teetering regime and the UN Security Council was to hold a special meeting later Saturday to consider sanctions.
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has warned that any delay would add to a death toll, which he said had already topped 1,000.
Protests sweeping the Middle East have railed against poor public infrastructure and demanded broader political reforms in some of the most corrupt and tightly censored countries in the world.
In Yemen, 19 people have died in almost daily clashes between police and anti-regime protesters since February 16, according to an AFP tally based on reports by medics and witnesses.
On Saturday, four more people were reported dead after security forces used live ammunition against a demonstration in the city of Aden, which some residents fear has become the front line in a state-sponsored war.
"Our neighbourhood has witnessed real scenes of war waged by forces of the Republican Guard, who have been targeting our innocent young who want to protest peacefully," one Aden resident said.
Friday saw the biggest protests yet in what is the poorest Arab country. Tens of thousands took to the streets, demanding that President Ali Abdullah Saleh step down after three decades in power.
In Iraq, which saw its first significant protests in a "Day of Rage" that left 15 people dead on Friday, the country's top Shiite Muslim cleric called on politicians to slash their benefits and improve public services.
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani said that the government had made progress but called on leaders to "cancel unacceptable benefits" given to politicians and said they must "not invent unnecessary government positions".
In Tunisia, former political prisoners are coming forward to denounce the torture and ill-treatment they endured when jailed for long periods under the toppled regime.
Egypt's ruling military council on Saturday apologised after military police beat protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square overnight, saying that "all measures will be taken to ensure this will not happen again."
In Bahrain, tens of thousands of protesters have also been thronging the capital Manama to demand the end of the Sunni royal family's centuries-old rule over the Gulf state's Shiite majority.
Jordan saw 25 people camp out in the capital Amman overnight calling for political reforms after a "Day of Anger" organised by the powerful Islamist opposition and other parties.
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