Libya's rebel government gained more Arab recognition on Monday, a day after its fighters overran the heart of the capital in their push to take full control from regime loyalists and end a six-month uprising against Moammar Kadhafi's 42-year rule.

Egypt, Libya's eastern neighbor, recognized the council as the legitimate government after holding back so far on supporting the rebels, who started their uprising days after an Egyptian revolt ended president Hosni Mubarak's three decade rule.

Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour stated on Monday that the toppling of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s rule will allow Lebanon to determine the fate of Imam Moussa al-Sadr and his companions who vanished on August 31, 1978.

The minister added: “Lebanon has never stopped searching for Sadr and his companions and now we have an opportunity to reveal their fate.”

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat stated on Monday that the imprisonment of a people intellectually and ideologically is no longer possible because it contradicts diversity that acts as the main guarantee for the survival of societies.

He said in his weekly editorial in the PSP-affiliated al-Anbaa magazine: “The third dictator in the popular revolution has fallen and with him falls the theory of one-party rule that has demonstrated its historic failure before the will of the people who are longing for freedom, democracy, and dignity.”

BP said on Monday that it would seek to return to Libya to continue its exploration program "when conditions allow" as Libyan leader Moammer Gadhafi faces imminent defeat.

"We intend to resume our activities and return to the country when conditions allow," a BP spokesman told Agence France Presse.

Libyan rebel chief Mustafa Abdul Jalil on Monday hailed the end of the four-decade "Gadhafi era," after his fighters took control of most of Tripoli.

But Abdul Jalil also warned that he could quit as head of the rebel National Transitional Council (NTC) if he loses control of the revolution, amid possible revenge acts by insurgents.

Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi declared on Monday his "full solidarity" with the Libyan rebel government as its fighters closed in on Moammar Ghadafi's Tripoli compound.

Arabi, in a statement expressed "his full solidarity with the ongoing efforts by the National Transitional Council" and "wished success for the council in leading a new era and preserving Libya's regional integrity and its sovereignty and independence."

The Libyan embassy in Damascus on Monday declared that it was siding with the rebel body the National Transitional Council, whose fighters have swept into Tripoli and are poised to overrun the capital.

"We, the ambassadors and members of the Libyan embassy in Damascus, announce our total support for the revolution of February 17 and declare our formal adherence to the National Transitional Council," it said in a statement.

France welcomed the apparent defeat of Moammar Gadhafi's regime in Tripoli on Monday and said it would host a summit of the international "contact group" coordinating a response to the conflict.

"We have reached the tipping point. This is a subject of great satisfaction. France took risks, calculated risks, but the cause was just," Foreign Minister Alain Juppe told reporters at his ministry in Paris.

World leaders said Monday the end is near for the regime of Moammar Gadhafi and called on the Libyan leader to relinquish power, as hundreds of Libyans living abroad celebrated in the streets after rebels took control of most of the Libyan capital.

With events unfolding quickly and clashes reported Monday near Gadhafi's compound in Tripoli, leaders across European capitals urged Gadhafi to avoid a bloodbath of his own people and turn himself in to the International Criminal Court.

Brent crude fell to near $105 a barrel Monday as Libyan rebels captured most of the country's capital, boosting hopes the OPEC nation's oil exports could resume soon.

In London, Brent crude for October delivery was down $3.22 per barrel to $105.40 on the ICE Futures exchange.