Libya News: Journalists “trapped” inside Rixos hotel

Foreign journalists are reportedly trapped inside Rixos hotel in Tripoli as fighting rages in the city. Rebel forces stormed into the heart of the Libyan capital Monday, marking a traumatic shift in the six-month civil war.

"They are not allowed to leave the hotel because there are [Muammar] Gaddafi men in the area and around the area," Al Jazeera's correspondent Zeina Khodr reportedly said from Green Square.

(More from GlobalPost: Libyans celebrate as rebels take Tripoli)

"We have been in contact with some of them, and they are telling us basically they were held there almost as human shields."

The Libyan government has insisted foreign journalists stay at the Rixos hotel while reporting on the conflict.

"Over the months it became a government hangout. A place of refuge and safety for them where Col Gaddafi's information minister held regular news conferences," recalled BBC correspondent in Tripoli Matthew Price.

He said a clear sign of change coming to Tripoli was when the wives of Gaddafi's officials packed up and left the hotel Saturday.

"Now the relatives of senior officials were going, heading presumably somewhere safer," he wrote. Continue reading Price's gripping account of this weekend's battle.

The rebels overnight assault on Tripoli sparked scenes of celebration in the city's Green Square.

While the rebels quickly gained control of much of the city, there were also reports of gun battles in pockets of Tripoli. AFP reports there are heavy clashes near Gaddafi's compound, called Bab al-Aziziya, as well as south of the capital.

Rebel spokesman Mohammed Abdel-Rahman told AFP tanks emerged from the Gaddafi complex Monday morning and began firing.

Gaddafi's whereabouts were not known Monday morning, but rebels had reportedly arrested the strongman's son and heir apparent, Seif Al Islam.