Hardened fighters streamed Thursday into Tripoli as Libya's rebels sought to deliver a knockout punch to Moamer Kadhafi's remaining forces and to flush out the strongman, dead or alive.

Leading the army of reinforcements were seasoned combatants from the city of Misrata, whose fellow fighters spearheaded the weekend assault that saw the Libyan capital swiftly overrun and Kadhafi's Bab al-Aziziya compound captured by Tuesday.

Rebel commanders said that while they control most of Tripoli, hot spots remain where sniper fire, rocket explosions and heavy weaponry make life dangerous.

The rebels are also hellbent on finding Kadhafi, so they can proclaim final victory in an uprising that began six months ago and was all but crushed by Kadhafi's forces before NATO warplanes gave crucial air support to the rebels.

Rebel leaders say they want to put Kadhafi on trial in Libya even though he also faces charges of crimes against humanity along with his son Seif al-Islam and spymaster Abdullah al-Senussi at the International Criminal Court.

The rebel National Transitional Council on Wednesday offered a $1.7 million reward for the capture of the elusive strongman, dead or alive.

"The NTC supports the initiative of businessmen who are offering two million dinars for the capture of Moamer Kadhafi, dead or alive," NTC chief Mustafa Abdel Jalil said in the rebel capital Benghazi.

Jalil also offered amnesty to "members of (Kadhafi's) close circle who kill him or capture him."

The 69-year-old Kadhafi has not been seen in public for weeks and despite losing control of the oil-rich North African country he ruled with an iron first for 42 years is still managing to broadcast messages urging Libyans to drive out the "rats" -- as he disparagingly calls the rebels.

He also claimed on Wednesday to have walked incognito on the streets of Tripoli without being recognized.

Meanwhile diplomatic efforts were launched at the United Nations and in Qatar by backers of the insurgents to secure the unlocking of billions of dollars of Libyan assets for the rebels.

Washington for its part said Libya's stockpile of weapons of mass destruction had been secured and that it was confident the NTC could set up governing structures after overrunning Tripoli.

A group of mostly foreign journalists who had been confined to Tripoli's Rixos Hotel by pro-Kadhafi hardliners were freed but other loyalists kidnapped four Italian journalists near the capital, and two French journalists were wounded by stray gunfire at the compound but were recovering.   AFP