Libyan rebels close in on Gadhafi stronghold

September 5, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

Los Angeles Times

TRIPOLI, Libya

Rebel forces were closing in Sunday on a strategic town still loyal to longtime Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi amid reports that negotiations for the town’s surrender had broken down.

Abdullah Kanshil, a rebel negotiator, told reporters Sunday that talks meant to craft a nonviolent surrender of the desert town of Bani Walid had failed. He said the next step was in the hands of field commanders.

The focus in the six-month civil war has shifted to Bani Walid, a Gadhafi stronghold about 90 miles southeast of Tripoli, the capital. Rebel forces captured Tripoli last month, sending Gadhafi and his family on the run.

Rebel forces have been massing outside Bani Walid.

Libya’s interim rulers have issued an ultimatum giving Gadhafi strongholds — including Bani Walid and the coastal city of Sirte, Gadhafi’s birthplace — until Saturday to surrender or face an all-out assault.

But some rebel spokesmen have given mixed messages, declaring that an attack on Bani Walid could begin anytime.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, meantime, has been bombing targets in and around Bani Walid and Sirte, along with several Gadhafi strongholds in southern Libya.

From his hiding place, Gadhafi has publicly urged his followers to resist the rebel onslaught until the end. His whereabouts and those of several of his sons remained unknown.