Lybia: Rebels prepare for final push into Sirte

Rebels are knocking on the door of Sirte, Muammar Gaddafi's last major stronghold in Libya, having moved to within 30 kilometers from the east and 100 kilometers from the west. The converging forces are negotiating with tribal leaders in Sirte to bring about the town's peaceful surrender. If this cannot be accomplished, the last, bloody battle for full control of Libya is in the offing.  

Nato bombers have struck the town, where rebel leaders now believe Gaddafi himself to be hiding, repeatedly.  His wife and three of his children, meanwhile, have fled to safety in Algeria. 

Over the weekend, rebel leaders rejected feelers from loyalist representatives to include Gaddafi in a transitional government. The National Transitional Council is not in a forgiving mood: 50,000 political prisoners are reported "missing" in Libya, and every day new evidence of mass executions of rebel forces and supporters is uncovered. Fears of rebel reprisals are increasing in this heated climate: fears that are well founded, as clear evidence of the executions of loyalist forces by NTC troops has come to light in recent days.

A town square in Sirte, Lybia, potential scene of the final battle for control of Libya.