Libyan rebels close on Gadhafi's hometown

BY KARIN LAUB

AND PAUL SCHEMM

The Associated Press

TRIPOLI, Libya -- Rebel fighters pushed closer to Moammar Gadhafi's hometown Friday, despite the extension of a deadline for the town's surrender and negotiations with tribal leaders aimed at avoiding bloodshed.

With the capital of Tripoli firmly in their hands, the rebels are in no rush to assault the loyalist-held town of Sirte, rebel officials said, hoping the town would surrender without an attack. But the rebels are also moving their forces into position in case an assault is needed.

"Military action will be the last option, because after the fall of the capital, we are not in a hurry," said Khaled Zintani, a spokesman for the rebels in the remote mountain town of Zintan.

Tribal elders in Sirte had asked that a delegation from Zintan be sent to Sirte to help with negotiations, he said, because of a long history of bad blood with rebels from towns closer to Sirte.

Despite the extension of a Sirte surrender deadline to Sept. 10, rebel forces have not stopped advancing, said another rebel spokesman, Abdel-Hafiz Ghoga. Rebel brigades have pushed to the town of Wadi Hawarah, just 30 miles from Sirte, he said.

"The rebels at the front line are very eager to move without delay," he said. "They live in harsh conditions there in the middle of the desert, and in hot weather," he said.

Gadhafi remains a fugitive and there have been conflicting reports about his whereabouts.

Gen. Omar al-Hariri, a rebel military commander, suggested Friday that Gadhafi might either be in a suburb of Tripoli or in the town of Bani Walid, 90 miles to the southeast. But he also acknowledged that the former Libyan leader probably has hide-outs elsewhere.

"We are after him and we will find him," he told The Associated Press. "He called us rats, but he is the larger rat."

The rebels have said they are concentrating their forces on three strongholds still held by Gadhafi loyalists: Sirte, Bani Walid and the southern city of Sabha.