Libyan embassy staff in the Philippines celebrated the apparent fall of Moammar Gadhafi on Wednesday by destroying symbols of the longtime dictator's rule.

Libyan expatriates joined employees at the Manila diplomatic mission as they hoisted the Libyan rebel flag over the embassy's grounds and draped it over the old Libyan seal. A small crowd gathered outside the embassy and cheered as the staffers smashed Gadhafi's glass-enclosed portrait.

Embassy counsel Faraj Zarroug told the Associated Press that time has run out for Gadhafi, who remains at large since rebel forces entered Tripoli earlier this week and overran his compound.

Zarroug said about 85 percent of his country's 165 diplomatic missions around the globe have recognized the interim National Transitional Counsel government.