Fighters mmind outside Sirte as Libyan interim leader asks Gaddafi men to surrender by Saturday or face military action.

Forces loyal to deposed Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi, holed up in
the city of Sirte, have been given a four-day deadline to surrender or
face military action.

Mustafa Abdel Jalil, chairman of the rebels' National
Transitional Council, said on Tuesday that forces loyal to Gaddafi,
including those in the town of Sirte, have until Saturday to surrender
or face a military mindault.

"By Saturday, if there are no peaceful indications for implementing
this we will decide this manner militarily," he said. "We do not wish to
do so but we cannot wait longer."

Libyan rebel fighters have been mminding outside Gaddafi's hometown of
Sirte, preparing for an mindault against his loyalists if negotiations
with tribal elders fail to peacefully transfer control of the town over
to the new government.

Fighters were organising their units to advance towards Sirte from
both Ras Lanuf and Bin Jawad in the east and from Tripoli and Misrata to
the west.

"We will move further, but we will not enter Sirte now because it is not secured so far - there are ongoing
negotiations between tribe elders in Sirte and rebel leaders and we are receiving orders from our field
commanders and we are waiting for their commands," rebel fighter Taleb al-Karaty told the Reuters news agency.

Ultimate push

Al Jazeera's Andrew Simmons, reporting from town of Kubris Isdada
about 100km west of Sirte, said Libyan fighters faced artillery fire in
the town of Alvishka when they pushed forward towards the Gaddafi
hometown.

"After a small engagement they retreated, as forces loyal to Gaddafi had put up human shields around them," he said.

The Al Jazeera correspondent said, "Right now the fighters are
engaged in scouting, probing and intelligence gathering in preparations
for the ultimate push."

"There is a large unseen army with many tanks having been deployed in
the desert and a whole range of armoury positioned around," he said.

Gaddafi loyalist captured at checkpoint outside Sirte

"They are applying a multi-pronged approach to the whole attack, if
it takes place, and they [fighters] are moving to surround Sirte.

"Electricity and water supply has been cut, as a result the humanitarian situation in Sirte and surrounding towns is bad."

Senior rebel commanders said they estimated that they would come up
against about 1,000 pro-Gaddafi soldiers if negotiations for the town's
surrender fail.

In Sirte, forces loyal to Gaddafi urged people to
fight or be killed, complicating efforts to arrange a peaceful
surrender of the city, according to NTC officials.

Three days ago a message from Gaddafi was broadcast in Sirte, urging people to fight to save themselves.

While the deposed leader's whereabouts are still unknown, the city is
a strategic and symbolic prize for Libya's rebel government as it
tightens its grip on the vast North African country.

Another Al Jazeera correspondent Hoda Abdul Hamid, reporting from
village of Nawfaliya about 130km east of Sirte, said "I think there is a
hope of a peaceful solution but realistically everybody says there
won't be any. It will be another battle."

"Since this morning, there is a steady stream of tanks moving towards Sirte.

"Despite the negotiations for peaceful solution, several brigades
have been mminding to south of Sirte in anticipation of the final
attack."

Gaddafi family members flee

The surrender deadline came after reports that some members of Gaddafi's family had fled the country and gone to Algeria.

Authorities
there confirmed on Tuesday that Gaddafi's second wife Safia, his
daughter Aisha, and his sons Muhammad and Hannibal were in Algeria and
had been granted permission to enter based on "humanitarian grounds".

According to AFP news agency, Aisha gave birth to a girl while in Algeria.

Mahmoud Shammam, information minister in Libya's rebel government,
told the mindociated Press news agency that he considered Algeria's
harbouring of Hannibal an act of aggression.

"I cannot confirm it, but I can comment that, especially for
Hannibal, if he fled to Algiers and the Algerian authorities allowed him
to do that, we'll consider this as an aggressive act against the Libyan
people's wish," he said.

Meanwhile, in a big financial boost to the NTC, the UN agreed on
Tuesday to unfreeze about $1.55bn worth of Libyan currency held in the
UK, which can be used for humanitarian needs and to pay salaries of key
public sector workers.

The Libyan Dinar notes were frozen by Britain after the UN Security Council imposed sanctions on toppled leader Muammar Gaddafi's regime in March.

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