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(Reuters) - It will take Libyan rebels more than 10 days to take control of Sirte, Muammar Gaddafi's home town and one of his last major bastions of support along the Mediterranean coast, a rebel commander told Reuters on Sunday.
Rebel troops have advanced to within 100 km (60 miles) of Sirte from the east and are also approaching from Misrata to the west, and will fight for Sirte if negotiations now under way on handing them control of the town fail, he said.
"Our aim isn't bloodshed, our aim is liberation," Colonel Salem Muftah al-Refaidy told Reuters during a visit to Benghazi, saying it would take more than 10 days to 'liberate' Sirte. "We don't want more bloodshed, especially among the civilians -- children, elderly, women."
Observers are concerned fighting in Sirte could be bloodier than that in Tripoli, where many corpses are rotting in the streets after rebels streamed in last week.
