Gaddafi loyalists given ultimatum before assault on last bastion

The rebels and Nato said Gaddafi loyalists are negotiating the fate of the heavily-militarised city, 250 miles east of the capital Tripoli.

Mustafa Abdel Jalil, the head of the rebels’ National Transitional Council, said negotiations with forces in Sirte would end on Saturday after the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, when the rebels would “act decisively and militarily”.

“We can’t wait more than that,” he told reporters in the eastern city of Benghazi. “We seek and support any efforts to enter these places peacefully. At the end, it might be decided militarily. I hope it will not be the case.”

His call for loyalists to lay down their arms was echoed by British Foreign Secretary William Hague, who said: “They are in a fairly hopeless situation militarily, without prospect of resupply or reinforcement to any significant degree. They have been given this chance over the next few days to bring this to an end.”

Colonel Roland Lavoie, a Nato spokesman, said it was possible Sirte might surrender without a fight.

The rebels also again demanded that Algeria return Gaddafi’s wife and three of his children for trial, after they fled across the border.

Safiya Gaddafi, her daughter Aisha and sons Hannibal and Mohammed entered Algeria on Monday. Gaddafi and several of his other sons remain at large.

Algeria’s Health Ministry said Aisha has since given birth to a girl. Algerian news reports claim her pending childbirth was one reason for the country’s decision to take the family in.