France welcomed the apparent defeat of Moamer Kadhafi's regime in Tripoli on Monday and said it would host a summit of the international "contract 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.

"France has proposed an extraordinary meeting of the Contact Group at the highest level from next week," urging the strongman's remaining supporters to lay down their arms and warning them: "The regime's days are numbered."

Juppe noted that fighting was continuing in some areas and called for caution, but said that the contact group meeting would help set a "road map" for the international community's engagement in the crisis.

And he said that France had been the first world power to recognise Libya's National Transitional Council as the voice of the revolution against Kadhafi's rule and vowed Paris would continue to support the body in the days ahead.

"It is for Libyans alone to build the Libya of tomorrow," he said.