Libyan rebels set deadline for final battle

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Libyan rebels set deadline for final battle

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NATO vowed no let-up in its bombing of Gaddafi's forces until they stop attacking civilians.

31 August,2011 05:21 am

Libyan rebels said that they are ready for the final battle of their more than six-month uprising after their leaders gave Moamer Gaddafis last loyalists a Saturday deadline to surrender.The head of the rebel National Transitional Council (NTC), Mustafa Abdel Jalil, said the respite was offered to mark the three-day Eid al-Fitr feast which follows the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramazan.But NATO vowed no let-up in its bombing of Gaddafis forces until they stop attacking civilians, warning the elusive Libyan leader was still in active command of some troops.Rebel military spokesman Colonel Ahmed Omar Bani said he still hoped efforts to negotiate the peaceful surrender of the remaining towns in loyalist hands would bear fruit.However he added there was no sign of that yet and that time was running out.Zero hour is quickly approaching. We would like everyone to know that we are ready for a final military battle, he told a news conference in the rebels eastern stronghold of Benghazi.So far we have been given no indication of a peaceful surrender... We continue to seek a peaceful solution, but on Saturday we will use different methods against these criminals.The NTC chief said talks were under way with civic and tribal leaders in a number of towns, including Gaddafis birthplace Sirte in an effort to avoid bloodshed but said they must rapidly come to a conclusion.From Saturday, if no peaceful solution is in sight on the ground, we will resort to military force, Abdel Jalil said.He warned Gaddafi is not finished yet, as NATO said the strongman was still able to command and control his remaining troops even though he is on the run.He is displaying a capability to exercise some level of command and control, Colonel Roland Lavoie, military spokesman of the NATO air mission in Libya, told a news briefing via video link from his headquarters in Naples.The pro-Gaddafi troops that we see are not in total disarray, they are retreating in an orderly fashion, conceding ground and going to the second best position that they could hold to continue their warfare, he added.While rebels sought to talk Gaddafi troops into surrendering in their last major stronghold of Sirte, Lavoie said NATO air strikes were continuing and were now focused around the town.Despite the fall of the Gaddafi regime and the gradual return of security for many Libyans, NATOs mission is not finished yet, he said.