Libya State TV shows first footage of Gaddafi in two weeks

Libyan officials said the video was shot in the capital on Wednesday, although it has not been independently verified.

Col Gaddafi has not been seen since 30 April, when a Nato strike killed his youngest son and three grandchildren.

Earlier, Libyan rebels said they had seized Misrata airport in the west, driving back pro-Gaddafi troops.

Government forces have been pounding the western city, which remains largely under rebel control, for weeks.

Meanwhile, fresh explosions were reported in Tripoli on Wednesday.

BBC reports Nato saying earlier that its planes had carried out 6,000 missions over Libya since it assumed command of military operations there at the end of March.

The air strikes have helped secure rebels in their strongholds in eastern Libya, but observers say it remains unclear to what extent they have loosened Col Gaddafi's grip on the west of the country.

In the footage, Col Gaddafi was dressed in his trademark brown robes, dark sunglasses and black hat. He appeared to be in good health.

"We tell the world, 'those are the representatives of the Libyan tribes,'" Col Gaddafi said, pointing to his visitors.

A man then was seen telling him "You will be victorious."

On Wednesday, eyewitnesses said Misrata airport fell after hours of fighting between rebels and pro-Gaddafi forces.

Libya's third-largest city, Misrata is the only significant western rebel holdout and is strategically important because of its deep-sea port, which has become a lifeline for supplying civilians and for evacuating wounded people fleeing the fighting.

Though the rebels are said to be better organised than those in eastern Libya, their campaign is still widely seen as an improvised affair.

Following a wave of revolutions across the region, Libya's uprising was sparked by February's arrest of a human rights campaigner in Benghazi, and rapidly spread to other