Libya’s interim leaders have given pro-Gaddafi forces until Saturday to surrender or face military force.
Mustafa Abdul Jalil, who leads the National Transitional Council (NTC), said the ultimatum applied to loyalists of Gaddafi in his hometown of Sirte and in other towns.
The anti-Gaddafi forces are massing near Sirte and getting ready. But there is a lot of heavy military kit on both sides and if they have to fight for it, it is going to be very messy indeed.
Interim government sources are saying Gaddafi’s son, Mutassim, who was heading the loyalists in Sirte, has now left the city.
They also say Gaddafi himself may still be in Tripoli, or may be heading to Bani Walid, to the south-east, or to the mountains between the two.
In Sabha, in the south, the anti-Gaddafi forces say the people there have joined the revolution, so the town is loyal to them, but it is surrounded by a large number of pro-Gaddafi forces that have fled from Tripoli and Sirte and other places; that will be a tough nut to crack.
Unless there is an unexpected surrender, there is a lot of fighting still to do.
The anti-Gaddafi forces are trying to overcome pockets of resistance by loyalists, and preparing to advance on Sirte.
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Speaking at a news conference in Benghazi, Jalil said that if there was no “peaceful indication” by Saturday that Gaddafi loyalists intended to surrender. “We will decide this manner militarily,” he said.
“We do not wish to do so but we cannot wait longer,” he said.
The NTC’s military chief, Ahmed Omar Bani, said: “Zero hour is quickly approaching . . . So far we have been given no indication of a peaceful surrender.”
Jalil said he had spoken to Nato officials and that the NTC had decided no foreign troops were needed in Libya to maintain security.
“We are betting on our youths and we are certain our bet will pay off,” he said.
But Jalil warned that Gaddafi was “not finished yet”. “The danger that is threatening the revolution and the Libyan people still exists. Gaddafi has support and partisans inside and outside Libya,” he said.
The anti-Gaddafi forces made an attempt to reach Sirte last week but were fought back by loyalist troops.
