The victory was by no means complete, however. Colonel Qaddafi and his family were nowhere to be found. And as crowds cheered into the night in the city’s Green Square, now Martyrs’ Square, some Qaddafi militiamen were still fighting around the city, and the rebels acknowledged that even the compound, Bab al-Aziziya, was not yet under their full control.

As a reminder that he remained on the loose, Colonel Qaddafi, in an address broadcast early Wednesday over a local Tripoli radio station, called his retreat from Bab al-Aziziya “tactical,” Reuters reported. He blamed months of NATO airstrikes for bringing down his compound and vowed “martyrdom” or victory in his battle against the alliance. It was the second such address by Colonel Qaddafi, 69, since his forces lost control of Tripoli.

Still, the storming of the compound represented the fruition of an oft-repeated rebel vow: “We will celebrate in Bab al-Aziziya,” the ultimate seat of power in the Qaddafi government. The conquest was spearheaded by hundreds of experienced fighters from the port city of Misurata, who developed into some of the rebels’ best organized and most effective units after months of bitter fighting with elite loyalist forces.

Jubilant rebel fighters made off with advanced machine guns, a gold-plated rifle and Colonel Qaddafi’s golf cart. One took the distinctive fur that Colonel Qaddafi wore in his first public appearance after the uprising began six months ago.

While the pillaging of Bab al-Aziziya was the most conclusive evidence yet that Colonel Qaddafi’s rule was at an end, it was not yet clear how much his fall would do to pacify Qaddafi partisans who may feel they have much to lose from the rebels’ ascendance, especially while their leader remains at large.

In a further maneuver in the diplomacy surrounding the conflict, China on Wednesday urged a “stable transition of power” in Libya and said it is in contact with the rebels Benghazi-based National Transitional Council, Reuters reported, suggesting that Beijing’s allegiance has shifted. China “respects the choice of the Libyan people and hopes for a stable transition of power,” Mao Zhaoxu, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, said in a statement.

“We have always attached significance to the important role of the National Transitional Council in solving Libya’s problems, and maintain contact with it,” Mr. Ma said.

China had maintained close economic ties with the Qaddafi regime and withdrew tens of thousands of its workers at the start of the conflict, news reports said. It remained unclear on Wednesday when the leaders of the rebel council would transfer their operations from Benghazi to Tripoli, as they have said they plan to.

A group of journalists have been trapped there for days, first by Colonel Qaddafi’s guards and now by gunfire outside. On Tuesday the BBC reported that the hotel had come under attack as well, forcing the journalists to take shelter.

But gunmen and snipers hostile to the rebels continue to operate in many other neighborhoods, and doctors at clinics and hospitals around Tripoli reported hundreds of gunshot wounds over the last 72 hours, even in neighborhoods rebels consider well controlled.