State-run Libyan television showed Muammar Gadafy at a school in Tripoli on a visit it said took place today, his first televised public appearance in five days.
Gadafy, wearing his brown burnous and sunglasses, could be seen entering the school surrounded by bodyguards. The TV news anchor said the visit took place this morning.
Gadafy, one of the world's longest serving leaders who is fighting a rebellion in the country's east and pockets of the west, clenched his fist in the air as students chanted: "Only Allah, Muammar and Libya."
Gadafy smiled his as he received an ecstatic welcome at the school, where women ululated and pupils chanted anti-western slogans. One woman cried with emotion as he passed.
He looked confident and relaxed, confirming the impression among analysts that his administration has emerged from a period of paralysis and is hunkering down for a long campaign.
Gadafy was accompanied by bodyguards who drove him away in a white car. He was last seen in public in televised pictures on April 4.