Libyan leaders cautious amid celebrations marking Gaddafi uprising Spontaneous celebrations began across Libya on Friday, with crowds waving the new red, black and green national flag, dating from the era before Gaddafi seized power in 1969. Delivering a televised address, Mustapha Abdul Jalil, head of the National Transitional Council, said the new government had "opened our arms to all Libyans, whether they supported the revolution or not." He pledged to be "tough towards people who threaten our stability," saying that former rebel fighters, who deposed Gaddafi's regime last August with the aid of a Nato bombing campaign, stood ready "to respond to any attack." At present, rival groups still fight regular gun battles - including in the capital, Tripoli, while setting up checkpoints and running their own detention centres. Illegal weapons have flowed out of Libya to reach all of the country's neighbours. The authorities plan to demobilise an estimated 75,000 militiamen, with a third joining the national army, another third being incorporated into the interior ministry's security forces, and the remainder being found civilian employment. But progress towards achieving this goal is slow. The first stage - simply registering all the gunmen - was supposed to have been completed by last Wednesday. But Libya's oil sector has recovered faster than expected, with production standing at some 1.3 million barrels per day, compared with a pre-war level of 1.6 million.