Fierce Fighting as Rebels Tighten Noose on Gadhafi Hometown

Libyan rebels closed in on Moammar Gadhafi’s hometown of Sirte from both east and west Sunday, a senior military commander said, as the insurgents scrambled to restore essential services to Tripoli.

Fierce fighting was also raging in the west of the country as rebels trying to take full control of the region said they had fallen into an ambush in a town southwest of Zuwarah.

Rebel forces moved to within 30 kilometers of Sirte from the west and captured Bin Jawad 100 kilometers to the east, the rebel commander in Misrata, Mohammed al-Fortiya, told Agence France Presse.

"We took Bin Jawad today (Sunday)" on the eastern front, and "the thowar (rebel fighters) from Misrata are 30 kilometers from Sirte" in the west, Fortiya said.

Rebels pushing west from the oil hub of Ras Lanuf had been stuck for four days outside Bin Jawad, a key town on the coast road of the Gulf of Sirte, as Gadhafi’s forces kept up a defiant resistance.

Sirte is the elusive Gadhafi’s last bastion after rebels smashed his forces in Tripoli and seized his Bab al-Aziziya headquarters, and now the insurgents are focusing on capturing the Libyan leader.

Although his whereabouts remain a mystery, there is widespread speculation that Gadhafi is holed up in Sirte, 360 kilometers east of Tripoli, among tribal supporters there.

Fortiya said talks were under way with tribal leaders in Sirte for its surrender, adding that only tribal leaders were involved, and that to his knowledge no direct contact had been made with Gadhafi himself.

"We are negotiating with the tribes for Sirte's peaceful surrender," he said.

But a spokesman for the rebel National Transitional Council (NTC), Mahmoud Shammam, warned that negotiations for Sirte's peaceful handover would not be open-ended.

"The negotiations will not go on forever," he said. "The talks are still going on ... We would like to unify Libya very quickly."

In the capital, where life is slowly returning to normal after six months of bloody rebellion to end Gadhafi’s 42-year, iron-fisted rule, sporadic gunfire was heard overnight.

As rebels scrambled to get Tripoli back on its feet and appealed for funds, the Arab League early on Sunday urged the U.N. Security Council to unlock billions of dollars in Libyan assets and property.

Some 70 percent of homes in central Tripoli have no running water because of damage to the network, but potable water is being distributed from mosques, NTC officials said.

Abed al-Obeidi, deputy chief of the transitional council in Tripoli, said the water problem was because of technical faults.

"The network ... has technical failures," mainly with pumping, and "it is not due to sabotage," Obeidi said a day after NTC chief Mustafa Abdul Jalil attributed Tripoli water and electricity cuts to "sabotage by Gadhafi’s forces."

Several explosions and machine-gun fire rattled Tripoli overnight, but it was unclear if those responsible were Gadhafi loyalists or rebels celebrating the takeover of the capital a week ago.

In the rebel bastion of Benghazi, military spokesman Colonel Ahmed Omar Bani told reporters more than 10,000 prisoners have been freed from Gadhafi’s jails since the fall of Tripoli but almost 50,000 others are still missing.

"The number of people arrested over the past months (of the anti-Gadhafi revolt) is estimated at between 57,000 and 60,000," he said. "Between 10,000 and 11,000 prisoners have been freed up until now ... so where are the others?"

"We hope that Gadhafi is still in Libya so we can rid the world of this insect," he said. "The only way to treat this pest is to make him accountable for the crimes in Libya."

NTC head Mustafa Abdul Jalil had promised on Saturday that Gadhafi and his senior aides would be given a fair trial if they surrendered.

"We call on Moammar Gadhafi and his associates to surrender so we can protect them and spare them illegal execution," he said in Benghazi. "We guarantee them a fair trial, whatever their position."

The rebels have offered a $1.7 million-dollar reward for Gadhafi’s capture, dead or alive.

The NTC chief also called for emergency humanitarian aid for Tripoli, especially medical supplies.

His plea for help was heard loud and clear at Arab League headquarters in Cairo where a special meeting of foreign ministers urged "the U.N. and countries concerned" to "unfreeze the assets and property" of Libya.

Dr Najib Barakat of a local rebel council for Tripoli said there were enough medical supplies for three or four weeks, and that some 60 percent of the capital's medical staff were at work.

"All of Tripoli's hospitals are working," Barakat said, except at Abu Slim where around 80 decomposing bodies had been found. "The bodies have been removed and the hospital is being disinfected."

Arab foreign ministers also called on the United Nations to give the NTC Libya's seat at the U.N. and its agencies.

NTC number two Mahmoud Jibril, who headed the Libyan delegation at the Cairo gathering, warned of "instability" in Libya if the rebels failed to restore salaries and services.

Shammam on Saturday appealed for patience and called on all public, private and oil sector employees to return to work.

"We are starting from point zero in this situation. Do not ask for miracles, but we promise to try to make this difficult period as short as we can," he said.

On Sunday, insurgents expanded their control over the airport and other parts of Tripoli where some resistance remained.

They captured the base of the elite 32 Brigade, commanded by Gadhafi’s son Khamis, on Saturday after a NATO air strike and seven hours of fierce fighting that left 11 rebels dead.

In an adjoining cinder-block building, an AFP correspondent saw the charred remains of some 50 people who residents said were captives killed by Gadhafi forces on Tuesday by rifle fire and grenades.