Talks to avert rebel attack on dictator's stronghold

A rebel fighter puts up the new Libyan flag at a checkpoint (AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

Talks between tribal elders from the west Libyan town of Bani Walid and rebels encircling the city broke down last night, making an assault on the city likely to take place soon.

Rebel negotiator Abdullah Kanshil said hopes of a deal failed after Moussa Ibrahim, Muammar Gaddafi's chief spokesman and a top aide, insisted the rebels put down their weapons before entering the town, which lies 90 miles south-east of Tripoli.

The rebels had given pro-regime forces there and in surrounding towns until Saturday to lay down all their weapons or face a military assault.

As opposition fighters consolidate their hold on most of the country, Bani Walid is one of the few towns still held by forces loyal to Gaddafi.

Representatives from Libya's interim government, the National Transitional Council (NTC) have been working to negotiate a peaceful reconciliation and avoid a bloody final showdown in Libya's six-month-long civil war. Yesterday morning, NTC representatives reported that tribal leaders in the town were divided on the best way forward but that a peaceful handover of the city may be imminent. Rebel military spokesman Colonel Ahmed Bani expected tribal leaders to give up.

"They will give up in the end because they are cousins and they don't want to spill each other's blood", he said.

Bani Walid is home to the million-strong Warfalla tribe, who make up a sixth of Libya's population. In an audio message released last week, Gaddafi said the Warfalla tribe would defend him to the death. The rebels have announced advances on the town several times in past days and the deadline for concluding negotiations has already been extended by a week.

Thousands of opposition fighters are said to be gathered around Bani Walid, where rebel commanders say advance units are 10 miles from the outskirts of the town. Fighters there say they are eager to move in.

"We are waiting for orders to attack," Mohammed al-Fassi, a rebel commander at a staging area about 45 miles from Bani Walid told the Associated Press news agency. "We wanted to do this without bloodshed, but they took advantage of our timeline."

Bani Walid has been widely considered in speculation about Gaddafi's location. Others say he is in his birthplace of Sirte or in loyalist-held Sabha, deep in the desert of Libya's sparsely populated southern hinterland.