Libyan rebels forces have begun to cleanse Tripoli's streets of gunmen still loyal
to former leader Muammar Gaddafi.
The rebels have announced they were
confident they could finish off the diehard soldiers clinging to the momory of a leader who is presumed to be in hiding in the country he ruled for four
decades.
"The end will only
come when he's captured, dead or alive," said Mustafa Abdel Jalil, head
of the rebel National Transitional Council (NTC), who offered amnesty
to any of Gaddafi's entourage who killed him, and offered a reward of more than US$1 million for his capture.
Nato is now giving intelligence and reconnaissance help to the bands of rebels hunting Gaddafi and his sons.
Following the rebel forces' capture of the former leader's Tripoli headquarter, where they trashed symbols of his 42-year
rule, pockets of Gaddafi loyalists kept the opposition
fighters at bay.
Rebels also reported fighting deep in the desert and a
standoff around Gaddafi's tribal home town.
In Tripoli, rockets
and shooting kept largely kept civilians indoors and gunfire rang out
in the center. Most were anxious but hopeful the war would soon end,
and with it the worsening shortages of food, water and medical supplies
– both for hundreds of wounded and for the sick.
Jalil has said rebel
forces will halt their offensive if Gaddafi announces his departure and
give him and his sons safe passage out of the country.
There was no clear
indication of wherethe former Libyan head of state is, though his opponents believe he is
still in or around Tripoli after what Gaddafi himself described as a
"tactical" withdrawal from his Bab al-Aziziya compound before it was
captured Tuesday.
