Gaddafi is surrounded say rebels

Fighters are closing in on Muammar al-Gaddafi, according to a military spokesman who says the ousted Libyan leader has been surrounded and is unable to escape.

Gaddafi has been surrounded within a radius of 37 miles, Anees al-Sharif, a spokesman for the new Tripoli Military Council, told CNN late Wednesday.

Al-Sharif would not divulge the location, saying only that Gaddafi has no way of leaving the area, CNN reports.

CNN reports:

The comments follow another claim that two of Gaddafi's sons were spotted in Bani Walid, one of the ousted leader's last bastions of support.

Fighters advancing on Bani Walid late Wednesday came under fire from Gaddafi loyalists, leaving one fighter wounded and one Gaddafi loyalist dead, said Abdullah Kenshil, a chief negotiator for the National Transitional Council.

The firefight occurred as Saturday's deadline looms for loyalists to surrender peacefully or face military action.

Gaddafi loyalists have been firing rockets from inside Bani Walid, one of his last remaining bastions, reports UKPA.

At least 10 loud explosions shook the ground along the desert front line and smoke billowed from where the projectiles landed in Wadi Dinar, about 12 miles outside the town, UKPA says. The former rebels said the projectiles fired were Grad rockets.

Kenshil told CNN he could confirm that two of Gaddafi's sons, Saif al-Islam and Mutassim, were seen in Bani Walid.

"We know that Saif al-Islam Gaddafi and Mutassim Gaddafi are inside Bani Walid," he said.

"Eyewitnesses we know by name inside Bani Walid told us they saw them."

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi and his father are wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of crimes against humanity related to the regime's violent crackdown against anti-government protesters. Mutassim Gadhafi served as his father's national security adviser.

CNN can not independently confirm the claims, it said, noting that previous claims by Libya's new leaders that they have killed or arrested Gaddafi's sons have proven to be false.

The claims came as an audio message aired on Syrian-based a-Rai TV purporting to be from Gaddafi refuted claims he had fled to Niger, saying he was still in Libya and would not leave. (Read more at GlobalPost.com)

Last week his wife, daughter, two sons and other family members fled to neighboring Algeria.

The United States believes Gaddafi is on the run but is unable to say where.