Rebels accuse Gaddafi troops of using civilians as human shields

They say that loyalist fighters have seized farms near Gaddafi's home town of Sirte and are holding civilians as hostages
checkpoint in western libya
Young rebel fighters man a checkpoint in Ragdalin, western Libya. Photograph: Carl De Souza/AFP/Getty Images

Libyan rebels are closing in on Muammar Gaddafi's home town, the final major prize of the war, after rejecting an offer from the ousted leader to form a transitional government.

On Sunday night forces were pushing to surround Sirte, Gaddafi's birthplace and one of the last bastions of his support, and preparing for what could be a bloody siege.

Rebel commanders said Gaddafi's forces were using civilians as human shields to block their advance. They claimed that a Gaddafi brigade had moved into farmers' homes in the village of Heesh, 60 miles west of Sirte, and were refusing to let them go.

Commander Ali Ahmed of the rebel Sidra brigade said: "The Gaddafi [brigade] came there and stayed with them. They (the government forces) are on a hill above there, and also in the houses. The people cannot leave."

As a result, the rebel advance from Misrata to Sirte has stalled, with opposition units unable to bypass the village without being shelled, and unwilling to fire back.

But opposition forces advancing from Benghazi in the east said they had captured the eastern town of Bin Jawwad, 62 miles from Sirte.

The rebels' National Transitional Council (NTC) has said it wants to negotiate the surrender of Sirte, but will take it by force if it has no alternative.

Colonel Ahmed Bani, the council's military spokesman, said: "We will continue negotiations as long as necessary. However, the liberation of these cities will take place sooner or later. In our opinion this is a matter of days."

The offensive followed the NTC's rejection of an offer from the crumbling regime to negotiate. Gaddafi's chief spokesman, Moussa Ibrahim, said Gaddafi was still in Libya and that his son Al-Saadi was offering to lead talks on a transitional government.

But Mahmoud Shammam, the NTC's information minister, said: "I would like to state very clearly, we don't recognise them. We are looking at them as criminals. We are going to arrest them very soon as criminals.

"Talking about negotiations is a daydream for what remains of the dictatorship."

British foreign secretary William Hague was equally dismissive. "A transition of power is already taking place. The NTC ministers are in Tripoli and in increasing control of the situation. What is needed from the remnants of the Gaddafi regime is the fighting to stop."

However, British hopes of prosecuting the suspected Libyan killer of PC Yvonne Fletcher, shot 27 years ago, received a blow when rebels said they would not extradite Libyans to the UK.

In Tripoli, the stench of rotting bodies and burning rubbish still filled the city, although a volunteer clean-up operation was under way. An official said 75 bodies had been found at Abu Salim hospital, which was caught up in heavy fighting, and a further 35 corpses were found at the Yurmuk hospital. Rebels said they were concerned over the fate of prisoners who had been held by the regime. Rights groups say dozens have been massacred near prisons.

The NTC is still facing a multitude of problems, its chief task being to restore water to the city's 1 million-plus inhabitants. There has been no running water in Tripoli for six days. On Sunday, some desperate locals could be seen scouring the streets carrying empty plastic bottles. Others said they had been surviving by drawing water from neighbours' wells.

"Gaddafi has closed the water for all of Tripoli now," said one rebel, Salah Zaruk, clutching three empty bottles. "We have a big problem." But he added: "The most important thing is we have freedom. Freedom is more important than water."

The NTC announced that a tanker containing 4m litres of water had arrived. In the far west, Tunisian authorities reopened the main border crossing into Libya, restoring a key supply route for Tripoli, after Gaddafi forces were driven out last Friday.

Trucks loaded with food and other goods were already moving across the Ras Jdir crossing towards Tripoli, about two hours' drive away. A UN official said aid would be sent along the route once it was confirmed as secure. Another headache for Libya's new rulers is what to do with the hundreds of Gaddafi fighters who have now been captured and are in rebel custody. Around 280 fighters are being held in a makeshift prison in the Tripoli suburb of Tajura, including boys as young as 14.

In Green Square, rebel activist Nizar Mahani, head of the underground Free Generation Movement, erected a "martyrs' wall" for the war dead. He was watched by a small crowd amid chanting, singing, tears and celebratory gunfire.