@jocarvaJoão Cunha
A fighter for Libya's interim government helping desperate residents flee Moamer Kadhafi's hometown was killed on Friday and a packed family car was destroyed when pro-Kadhafi forces fired on their convoy, a local commander said.
One month to the day since Kadhafi's compound fell to rebels in Tripoli, the campaign to take Sirte and the fugitive ex-Libyan leader's other remaining bastion of Bani Walid was on hold for another day.
Asked why National Transitional Council (NTC) fighters were delaying a final assault on Sirte, commander Osama Muttawa Swehly said "we're trying to get the families out.
"We are averaging between 400 to 500 cars a day. We are basically trying to starve (the Kadhafi forces) out."
He said reports from inside the city are that there is no electricity, the water is cut off, shops are closed and people are running out of food.
"We are giving the families every chance to get out. Once that stream turns into a trickle then stops, then it will be time to act. We don't want victory at any cost."
One resident, Malik Mohammed Ferjani, left with about 40 relatives in a seven-car convoy on Friday, saying he was on a Kadhafi hit list.
"People are being executed by Kadhafi soldiers," Ferjani said. "Kadhafi soldiers have a list of 500 names; my name is on that list."
The family decided to flee "after they fired three rockets at my house this morning," he said.
He was speaking at a field hospital 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Sirte, where NTC officials were searching cars coming from the city before allowing them to proceed.
The officials said that, by midday, 385 people had come through.
When rebel fighters stormed and captured Kadhafi's Bab al-Aziziya headquarters on August 23, they found no trace of the deposed leader, who has since made several broadcasts claiming he is still in Libya.
While the country's new authorities do not know where he is, they are focused on taking the coastal city of Sirte and the desert redoubt of Bani Walid, two places where some think he might be.
Following fierce resistance by defenders, Kadhafi spokesman Mussa Ibrahim called on Friday for continued resolve against "agents and traitors."
Speaking on Damascus-based Arrai television from an unknown location, he also denounced what he called "genocide" by NATO and its "Libyan agents" and criticised the world community for "inaction."
Battlefront commanders said the new regime forces were in full control of all three main towns in the Al-Jufra oasis, a day after the capture of Libya's largest desert city, Sabha, in the deep south.
The defeat of Kadhafi loyalists in the Saharan oases left Sirte and Bani Walid effectively cut off from any line of escape to the south.
While another full-scale assault on Bani Walid was on hold Friday, an AFP correspondent embedded with NTC fighters a few kilometres (miles) outside the town said clashes began there at around 9:00 am (1100 GMT).
"We can hear the sounds of explosions and see the smoke rising from areas inside the city," the reporter said, adding that NTC fighters were targeting Bani Walid with rockets from that position.
The commander of NATO's Libya air campaign, Lieutenant General Charles Bouchard, said he was confident the mission could be completed "well within" three months after the alliance extended it for another 90 days.
Bouchard added that Kadhafi forces "are no longer able to conduct coordinated operations throughout Libya," while the number of people at risk from pro-Kadhafi military action had fallen to about 200,000.
He said he had no idea where Kadhafi was, but stressed that he continues to "give orders" and "entice regime forces" to act.
NTC commanders west of Sirte said on Thursday they had been told to expect further NATO air strikes and had orders not to advance.
East of Sirte, commanders said that they had postponed any offensive against the city for at least a week for want of ammunition after heavy fighting.
"Fighting has been stopped for a week. We are facing a shortage of ammunition," said Commander Mustafa bin Dardef of the Zintan Brigade.
He said he was heading to Benghazi to try to organise new supplies.
Meanwhile, troops loyal to the new regime would establish a "strong defensive line" around the town of Sultana which they captured early on Monday and is now five kilometres behind the front line.
In other developments, Switzerland said Friday it has lifted sanctions against Libya's National Oil Corp and its affiliate, Zueitina Oil Corp, as well as Afriqiyah Airways.
The move came a day after the European Union lifted sanctions on Libya in line with a UN decision last week, partly removing an arms embargo, unlocking frozen central bank and oil funds and letting Libyan aircraft use European runways.
And in Vienna, the UN atomic agency confirmed the existence of raw uranium (yellow cake) in Libya after US news channel CNN reported that new regime forces had found potentially radioactive material.
International Atomic Energy Agency spokeswoman Gill Tudor said the uranium, stored by the Kadhafi regime, had been declared to the IAEA and that the agency hoped to examine the material "once the situation in the country stabilises."
Libya agreed in 2003 to renounce its activities aimed at developing weapons of mass destruction as part of a rapprochement with Western countries that saw sanctions lifted and sensitive nuclear materials removed.
Algeria, meanwhile, gave de facto recognition to the NTC, Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci said on Friday. Algiers had previously angered the NTC by allowing members of Kadhafi's family to seek sanctuary across the border.
