Intimidated no more, Libyans end Gaddafi's rule

LONDON (Reuters) - Planted joyously atop a gold-coloured bust of Muammar Gaddafi, a succession of dusty rebel boots on Tuesday symbolised not only the capture of his Tripoli headquarters but also the humiliating collapse of his power in Libya.

With the fall of his Bab al-Aziziyah military compound televised around the world, the spell of his authority at home and his influence abroad -- especially in Africa -- will have been definitively fractured.