Four Day Ultimatum for Gadaffi Loyalists in Sirte

Libya's interim leaders have given pro-Gaddafi forces until Saturday to surrender or face military force. Mustafa Abdul Jalil, who leads the National Transitional Council (NTC), said the ultimatum applied to loyalists of Col Muammar Gaddafi in his hometown of Sirte and in other towns.

The announcement came after Col Gaddafi's wife and three of his adult children fled to neighbouring Algeria. Algeria has defended the move, which the NTC called an "act of aggression". Col Gaddafi's own whereabouts are unknown - rumours have variously placed him in Sirte, in regime-controlled Bani Walid south-east of Tripoli, and in the capital itself.

Speaking at a news conference in Benghazi, Mr Jalil said that if there was no "peaceful indication" by Saturday that Gaddafi-loyalists intended to surrender, "we will decide this manner militarily". "We do not wish to do so but we cannot wait longer," he said. The NTC's military chief, Col Ahmed Omar Bani, said: "Zero hour is quickly approaching... So far we have been given no indication of a peaceful surrender."
Mr Jalil said he had spoken to Nato officials and that the NTC had decided no foreign troops were needed in Libya to maintain security. But Mr Jalil warned that Col Gaddafi was "not finished yet". "The danger that is threatening the revolution and the Libyan people still exists. Gaddafi has support and partisans" inside and outside Libya, he said. Another military commander on the NTC, Col Hisham Buhagiar, told Reuters news agency that 50,000 people were now thought to have been killed since the start of the uprising six months ago.

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague welcomed the deadline, saying: "I think it's the right thing to do, to say to the forces loyal to the remnants of the Gaddafi regime: here is the opportunity to lay down your arms, to consider your situation." Mr Hague also said the UN Sanctions Committee had agreed to its request to unfreeze 1.86bn ($1.55bn; £950m) in Libyan dinar bank notes held in the UK. He said the money would "help address urgent humanitarian needs".


The anti-Gaddafi forces are hoping it will not come to an all out battle.  If they want to build a new Libya, then the former pro-Gaddafi and anti-Gaddafi people are going to have to find a way to live together.
The infrastructure has not been that badly damaged  in Tripoli. Water is quite a serious problem but they do have electricity and people are getting things back on their feet. But there is an utter vacuum at the top in terms of power. Big decisions have to be made because it won't be easy reconciling all the forces in the country. Such a political leadership has not yet emerged and that is a major and urgent challenge.