In the late afternoon the cafe was full of men smoking and drinking coffee, mint tea or strawberry juice. It was a very public setting, but the businessman judged that he was in like-minded company and so did not bother to lower his voice.

"Gaddafi is losing support every day," he said, placing another small coal on top of his shisha pipe. "If he wanted peace, he would have quit."

These days of bombs and bluster and seemingly endless queues for fuel in Tripoli are the "glorious hours" of the Libyan people, according to their leader, Muammar Gaddafi, whose stern image gazes down from billboards across the capital. For nearly 42 years it has been only the exceedingly brave, or the foolish, who dared to dispute what he said. Or to talk openly about life without the "Brother Leader" in charge. But now, nearly four months into a conflict that has torn the country apart, people in Tripoli appear to be slowly losing their fear of speaking out.

"Ninety-five per cent of people want him to leave, not just because of politics, but because of our desire for a return to normal life," the businessman said.

Foreign reporters are not permitted to work freely in Tripoli, so obtaining a genuine sense of people's feelings here is difficult. But on several furtive trips around the city without government minders, it was possible to talk to a range of residents on the streets. The picture that emerged was of a people weary of the inconveniences of war, and weary of being held hostage to the whims of one man - a people now just waiting for the end.