Russia stressed on Thursday it was important that the U.N. Security Council play a "leading role" in post-Gadhafi Libya as the six-month rebellion against its old ally appeared to be drawing to an end.

The Russian foreign ministry said Russia's top diplomat Sergei Lavrov and U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon had earlier in the day discussed global assistance to Libya's transition following the ouster of Moammar Gadhafi.

Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi called in an audio message on Thursday for an armed struggle to defeat the "enemies" and to "liberate Tripoli."

In the message, broadcast on Syria-based Arrai Oruba television, he said, "We must resist these enemy rats, who will be defeated thanks to the armed struggle."

Libyan rebel body, the National Transitional Council, will represent the North African state in the Arab League, the secretary general of the League Nabil al-Arabi said on Thursday.

"There was an agreement among Arab countries at the last meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Doha that it is time for Libya to get its seat on the Arab League and that the NTC of Libya is the only legitimate representative of the Libyan state to the league," Nabil al-Arabi said.

NATO insisted Thursday it was not targeting Moammar Gadhafi or coordinating with Libyan rebels, after Britain's defense secretary said the alliance was helping to hunt down the elusive leader.

"No specific individual is a target as an individual, whether it's Gadhafi or anybody else," NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu told Agence France Presse when asked about British Defense Secretary Liam Fox's comments that the alliance was providing intelligence and reconnaissance assets in the search for Gadhafi.

Four Italian journalists kidnapped in Libya on Wednesday by forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi, have been freed, the foreign ministry said in Rome.

"I'm alive and kicking," Domenico Quirico told his colleagues at La Stampa newspaper by phone, confirming he had been freed along with two reporters for Italy's top daily, Corriere della Sera and one for Avvenire, a Catholic paper.

Hardened fighters streamed Thursday into Tripoli as Libya's rebels sought to deliver a knockout punch to Moammar Gadhafi's diehards and, backed by NATO, to flush out the elusive strongman.

Hundreds of rebel fighters on Thursday launched an attack on a Tripoli hideout of forces and snipers loyal to Gadhafi, an AFP TV reporter said.

President Michel Suleiman stressed on Thursday the importance of holding dialogue between all the political factions.

He noted: “Dialogue has become a necessity for all countries and not just Lebanon.”

A ship chartered to evacuate foreigners from Tripoli docked at the Libyan capital this morning, the International Organization for Migration told Agence France Presse Thursday.

"We are optimistic the boat will be able to depart this afternoon for Benghazi," IOM spokeswoman Jemini Pandya said.

French and British operatives have been working with Libyan rebels on their eastern front, where the insurgents scored strategic blows against Moammar Gadhafi's forces, an Agence France Presse journalist discovered on Thursday.

The operatives are installed at the rebel command for the eastern front, at the dysfunctional oil refinery in Zuwaytina, about 150 kilometers (93 miles) southwest of the opposition capital Benghazi.

Libyan rebels advancing towards Sirte, the hometown of Moammar Gadhafi, were blocked Wednesday in the town of Bin Jawad as loyalists kept a stiff resistance, an insurgent commander said.

After taking Ras Lanuf, 150 kilometers west of Sirte, the rebels had advanced up to Bin Jawad, but were stuck there as they came under heavy artillery, rebel commander Fawzi Bukatif told Agence France Presse.