It was unclear who was shooting, which started at about 5:45 a.m., or what caused it. - Reuters (File Photo)

TRIPOLI: Intense and sustained machinegun fire broke out in the Libyan capital Tripoli before dawn on Sunday, Reuters witnesses said.

Automatic weapon rounds, some of it heavy calibre, echoed around central Tripoli along with pro-Gaddafi chants and whistling and a cacophony of car horns as vehicles sped through the vicinity.

A government spokesman denied any fighting was under way in Tripoli. “I assure you, I assure you, I assure you, I assure you, there is no fighting going on in Tripoli,” said Mussa Ibrahim, a government spokesman.

“Everything is safe. Tripoli is 100 percent under control. What you are hearing is celebratory fireworks. People are in the streets, dancing in the square.” He added, however: “I would like to advise not to go there for your safety.”

Tripoli is the main stronghold of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi as he faces a two-week-old rebellion posing the biggest challenge ever to his 41-year-old autocratic rule in the oil-exporting North African state.