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Rebels tighten grip

Published:Wednesday | August 31, 2011 | 12:00 AM
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In this photo taken Monday, a blazing pickup truck driven by two Gaddafi soldiers, one of them raises his hands (second right), on a scouting mission that came under fire by Libyan rebels on the front line, 86 miles (138 kilometres) from Sirte, Libya. The vehicle was destroyed and the two loyalist soldiers were captured, injuring one, after trying to escape. Rebels have been converging from the east and west on Sirte, 250 miles east of Tripoli, preparing to battle Gadhafi loyalists. - AP photos
Libyans demonstrate against Moammar Gaddafi at Green Square as they wave Libyan rebel flags in Tripoli, early yesterday.
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HEISHA (AP):

Libyan rebels say they're closing in on Moammar Gaddafi and issued an ultimatum yesterday to regime loyalists in the fugitive dictator's hometown of Sirte, his main remaining bastion: surrender this weekend or face an attack.

"We have a good idea where he is," a top rebel leader said.

The rebels, tightening their grip on Libya after a military blitz, also demanded that Algeria return Gaddafi's wife and three of his children who fled there Monday. Granting asylum to his family, including daughter Aisha who gave birth in Algeria yesterday, was an "enemy act", said Ahmed al-Darrad, the rebels' interior minister.

slowly restoring order

Rebel leaders insisted they are slowly restoring order in the war-scarred capital of Tripoli after a week of fighting, including deploying police and collecting garbage. Reporters touring Tripoli still saw chaotic scenes, including desperate motorists stealing fuel from a gas station.

In the capital's Souk al Jumma neighbourhood, about 200 people pounded on the doors of a bank, demanding that it open. Civil servants said they were told they would receive a 250-dinar (about $200) advance on their salaries for the three-day Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, which starts today in Libya.

Rebel fighters were converging on the heavily militarised town of Sirte, some 250 miles (400 kilometres) east of Tripoli.