Libyan fighters prepare to take Bani Walid

Libyian fighters on Sunday advanced towards the pro-Kadhafi town of Bani Walid, one of embattled leader Moamer Kadhafi's last remaining bastions. One of the commanders of the fighters said talks with Kadhafi’s men in the town had failed and an assault on the Bani Walid, an oasis town southeast of Tripoli was imminent. 

Reuters/Zohra Bensemra

A local spokesman for the National Transitional Council, NTC, now governing Libya said the frontline stood 15 to 20 kilometres north of the town and that troops were poised for an advance.

The new government's interim interior minister Ahmed Darrat told the French news agency that he was confident the town's capture was imminent. "We expect Bani Walid to be freed today or tomorrow," he said.

On Saturday, the deputy chief of the military council in the town of Tarhuna, north of Bani Walid, said Kadhafi's forces had been given until 0800 GMT on Sunday to surrender.

Ousted strongman's son Saadi is said to be still in Bani Walid, along with other senior figures of the fallen regime, while prominent son Seif al-Islam is reported to have fled the town.

Civilians who managed to leave the town said that most of Kadhafi's forces had now fled taking their heavy weaponry with them into the surrounding mountains.

Meanwhile, Kadhafi regime intelligence files, originally obtained by Human Rights Watch from a Libyan security archive, appear to document deep cooperation between the CIA, MI6 and the Kadhafi regime.

The documents show how the CIA, under the administration of then US George W. Bush, brought terror suspects to Libya and suggested questions Libyan interrogators should ask them.

The documents also reveal that a statement given by Kadhafi announcing his regime was giving up weapons of mass destruction in a bid to shed its pariah status was put together with the help of British officials.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague has said the closeness of ties between London and Tripoli related to the previous Labour government.