Updated on
Summary There has been much speculation about fugitive Gaddafis whereabouts, with Bani Walid.
Rebel fighters closed in Saturday on one of Moammar Gaddafis last strongholds, the remote desert town of Bani Walid, but were trying to persuade tribal elders there to surrender without a fight.A rebel commander said the town has been given until Sunday to surrender. If they dont raise the rebel flag tomorrow, we will enter with force, said Abdel Razak al-Nathori, who commands one of the brigades advancing on Bani Walid.Al-Nathori said one of Gaddafis sons, Muatassim, was in Bani Walid on Saturday, apparently to persuade tribal leaders to stick with the crumbling regime. Another Gaddafi son, Seif al-Islam, was in Bani Walid at some point but fled, said al-Nathori, speaking in the town of Tarhouna, about halfway between Tripoli and Bani Walid.The elder Gaddafi remains a fugitive, and there has been much speculation about his whereabouts, with Bani Walid being named as a possible hiding place.Abdel-Baset Naama, another rebel official from the area, said forces from various rebel-controlled towns were gathering along the approaches to Bani Walid. They have cut off access to the town from three directions, he said.
