Rebels close in on Gadhafi's hometown

TRIPOLI, Libya?? Libyan rebel forces were converging on Moammar Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte on Monday, hoping to deliver the coup de grace of their revolution but uncertain if the fallen strongman was holed up there.

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The fugitive Gadhafi's whereabouts were still not known and it was possible he was still in hiding in Tripoli after it fell to rebel forces and his 42-year-old reign collapsed.

NATO war planes struck at Sirte, on the Mediterranean coast, for a third day on Sunday, a spokesman for the multi-national alliance said in Brussels.

"We're paying close attention to what's happening in Sirte because we know that there are remnants of the regime that are there," the spokesman told Reuters.

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On the ground, rebel forces also closed in and said they would seize Sirte by force if negotiations for its surrender failed.

Gadhafi was born near Sirte, 300 miles east of Tripoli, in 1942 and after he seized power in 1969 he built it up from a sleepy fishing village into an important city and power center of 100,000 people.

Last stand?
He still retains support and sympathy there, so whether or not he has chosen to retreat to the city to make a last stand, its capture will still be strategically and symbolically important to the rebels as they consolidate their victory.

One rebel commander said his forces were within 60 miles of Sirte from the east and others were advancing from the west.

On the coastal highway east of Tripoli, tank transporters were carrying Soviet-designed T-55 tanks in the direction of Sirte. Rebels said the tanks were seized from an abandoned military base in Zlitan.

Meanwhile, the stench of rotting bodies and burning garbage hung over the capital Tripoli, where food, water and other supplies were running short,

NBC News' Stephanie Gosk in Tripoli described how the city was struggling to cope with the growing number of corpses.

"There are so many unclaimed bodies in the hospitals and morgues that it has gotten to point where they are just burying them," she said.

At a public cemetery visited by a NBC News crew, a crew of about 15 men were burying the bodies. Each was photographed and checked for identification before being buried, Gosk reported.

Many corpses have been found, some of slain Gadhafi soldiers, others the victims of killings in cold blood.

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Mindful of preserving their image to the world and stung by accounts that captured Gadhafi loyalists have been found dead with their hands tied behind their backs, the rebel leaders sent a text message urging followers not to abuse prisoners.

"Remember when you arrest any follower of Gadhafi, that he is like you, that he has dignity like you, that his dignity is your own dignity, and that it is enough humiliation for him that he is already a prisoner," it said.

40,000 prisoners missing?
Rebel military spokesman Colonel Ahmed Bani said there was concern for the fate of 40,000 prisoners who he said had been detained by Gadhafi's forces and who were still unaccounted for. It was possible some were being held in underground bunkers in Tripoli that rebels had been unable to locate.

Sarah Leah Whitson, of Human Rights Watch, said: "The evidence we have been able to gather so far strongly suggests that Gadhafi government forces went on a spate of arbitrary killing as Tripoli was falling."

Outside of Tripoli, a rebel military commander in Misrata, told Reuters: "The front line is 30 km (19 miles) from Sirte. We think the Sirte situation will be resolved peacefully, God willing."

"Now we just need to find Gadhafi. I think he is still hiding underneath Bab al-Aziziyah like a rat," the commander Jamal Tunally said, referring to Gadhafi's Tripoli compound that rebels overran on Tuesday.

Slideshow: Conflict in Libya (on this page)

From the east, rebel fighters pushed 4 miles past the village of Bin Jawad and secured the Nawfaliyah junction, a rebel spokesman said.

"We're going slowly," spokesman Mohammad Zawawi told Reuters. "We want to give more time for negotiations, to give a chance for those people trying to persuade the people inside Sirte to surrender and open their city."

The rebel leadership sought to establish control in the capital after days of confusion and sporadic skirmishing with the remnants of Gadhafi's forces.

Gadhafi is on the run and the fear among his foes is that he intends to lead an insurgency against them.

The National Transitional Council, recognized by dozens of states as Libya's legitimate government, rejected any idea of talks with him, saying he was a criminal who must be brought to justice.

"We did not negotiate when we were weak, and we won't negotiate now that we have liberated all of Libya," NTC information minister Mahmoud Shammam told a news conference.

The Associated Press quoted Gadhafi's spokesman, Moussa Ibrahim, as saying Gadhafi was still in Libya and wanted to discuss forming a transitional government with the NTC.

NTC officials say Gadhafi, his son Saif al-Islam and his spy chief should be tried in Libya, although they are wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.

Slideshow: Moammar Gadhafi through the years (on this page)

The NTC and its Western backers are acutely aware of the need to prevent Libya collapsing into the kind of chaos that plagued Iraq for years after the U.S.-led invasion of 2003.

The de facto government, whose leaders plan to move to Tripoli from Benghazi this week, is trying to impose security, restore basic services and revive the energy-based economy.

Officials said a gas export pipeline to Europe had been repaired and Libya's biggest refinery had survived the war intact.

In the west, Tunisian authorities reopened the main border crossing into Libya, restoring a supply route for Tripoli, after Gadhafi forces were driven out on Friday.

Video: Mobs ransack home of Gadhafi's son (on this page)

That should help relieve a looming humanitarian crisis in the city, where food, drinking water and medicines are scarce.

Trucks loaded with food and other goods were already moving across the Ras Jdir crossing toward Tripoli, about two hours' drive away.

The NTC issued messages urging electricity workers to get back to work and efforts to pay the salaries of public sector workers were under way.

Tripoli residents queued for bread or scoured grocery shops for food. Many took a stoical view of their plight.

"This is a tax we pay for our freedom," said Sanusi Idhan, who was waiting to buy food.

Reuters, NBC News' Stephanie Gosk and msnbc.com staff contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44310933/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/

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