Libya rebels tighten noose on Gaddafi bastion

Tripoli: Libyan rebels closed in on Moammar Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte from both east and west today, a senior military commander said, as the insurgents scrambled to restore essential services to Tripoli. Rebel forces moved to within 30 kilometres of Sirte from the west and captured Bin Jawad 100 kilometres to the east, the rebel commander in Misrata, Mohammed al-Fortiya, told.

"We took Bin Jawad today (Sunday)" on the eastern front, and "the thwar (rebel fighters) from Misrata are 30 kilometres 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 Gaddafi's forces kept up a defiant resistance.

Sirte is the elusive Gaddafi'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 Gaddafi is holed up in Sirte, 360 kilometres 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 Gaddafi himself. "We are negotiating with the tribes for Sirte's peaceful surrender," he said.