TRIPOLI, Libya - Dozens of people were reported killed in Tripoli overnight as anti-government protests reached the Libyan capital for the first time and the building where the country's parliament meets was ablaze on Monday.

One of Muammar Gadhafi's sons said the veteran leader would fight the popular revolt that has shaken his 40-year rule until "the last man standing".

Anti-government protesters rallied in Tripoli's streets, tribal leaders spoke out against Gadhafi and army units defected to the opposition in a revolt that has cost the lives of more than 200 people.

Al Jazeera television quoted medical sources as saying 61 people had been killed in the latest protests in Tripoli.

It said security forces were looting banks and other government institutions in Tripoli, and protesters had broken into several police stations and trashed them.

The building where the General People's Congress, or parliament, meets when it is in session in Tripoli was on fire on Monday morning, a Reuters reporter said.

Oil drilling suspended

European oil and gas companies have evacuated staff and suspended drilling preparations in Libya as violence spreads across the north African country.

Norway's Statoil, Austria's OMV and Royal Dutch Shell have moved some staff as scores of anti-government protesters were killed in the country's second-biggest city, Benghazi, and unrest spread to the capital Tripoli over the weekend.

Production at the Murzaq oil field run by Spain's Repsol has been unaffected so far, as has output from Eni's operations.

But UK oil major BP, which does not produce oil or gas in Libya but has been readying an onshore rig to start drilling for it in the west of the country, has suspended operations because of the escalating violence.

"We are looking at evacuating some people from Libya, so those preparations are being suspended but we haven't started drilling and we are years away from any production," a BP spokesman said, adding that BP has about 40 staff in the country.

Markets pinched

Unrest in Libya sparked a rally in oil and gold prices on Monday while a buoyant outlook for industrial metals demand also kept those markets on the boil.

Oil prices jumped by more than $2 a barrel to a two and half year peak as protests spread to the capital of OPEC member Libya and after a report that output had stopped at a Libyan oilfield because workers were striking.

"Libya is a significant producer and exporter of good quality crude oil and threats by the tribal leader to stop production is worrisome," said Christophe Barret, an oil analyst at Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank.

Libya exports around 1.1 million barrels per day, and on Sunday a tribal leader in the country threatened to cut the flow within 24 hours if a government crackdown on protestors continued.

Brent crude for April delivery rose $2 to $104.52 a barrel, after surging to as much $105.08, a two and half year high.

Reuters