Rebels ready to take last remaining Gaddafi strongholds (VIDEO)

Libyan rebels closed in on the Muammar al-Gaddafi stronghold of Bani Walid overnight and were reportedly poised to attack after Gaddafi's remaining forces failed to adhere to an ultimatum by the National Transitional Council.

Bani Walid, 95 miles south-east of Tripoli, is one of four towns and cities still controlled by Gaddafi forces; the others being Jufra, Sabha and Gaddafi's birthplace in Sirte.

According to The Gulf Today:

A commander of the fighters said talks aimed at securing the peaceful surrender of Gaddafi's forces in Bani Walid had been abandoned and an assault on the oasis town southeast of Tripoli was imminent.

One rebel negotiator told the BBC meantime that civilians in Bani Walid could not move and he feared they would be shot or used as human shields. 

A spokesman for the NTC, which will transfer to the Libyan capital on Wednesday according to the Tripoli Post, said the frontline stood about 10 miles north of Bani Walid.

NTC chairman Mustafa Abdel Jalil had said that pro-Gaddafi forces were being given humanitarian aid and time to surrender and "avoid further bloodshed."

However, Mohamed Al Fassi, checkpoint commander in the village of Shishan, 50 miles north of Bani Walid, reportedly said late Sunday that: "Negotiations between Gaddafi’s men and our forces have ended. These people aren’t serious. Twice they promised to surrender only to go back on their word."

According to the BBC's Ian Pannell, the sticking point in negotiations had been that more than a dozen young men held captive in a room in Bani Walid were at some point killed by townspeople.

An NTC spokesman in London, Guma Al Gamaty, meanwhile, told BBC TV that when captured, Gaddafi should stand trial in Libya not before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, which in June issued an arrest warrant for suspected crimes against humanity committed during the Libyan uprising.

"The ICC will only put Gaddafi on trial for crimes committed over the last six months," Gamaty said. "Gaddafi is responsible for an horrific catalogue of crimes committed over the last 42 years, which he should stand trial for and answer for and he can only answer for those in a proper trial in Libya itself.

The Gulf Today reported Abdullah Kenshil, the chief of the NTC negotiating team, as saying:

"We are negotiating through the intermediary of tribal leaders who hope to convince the armed groups [loyal to Gaddafi] to surrender. We will protect them, we won’t do anything to them, we only want to try them, and they will have a fair trial."

Confirmation also came overnight that Gaddafi's son, Khamis Gaddafi, has been killed. The interim government said he had died in fighting close to Tripoli and was buried near Bani Walid.

According to the Telegraph, rebel spokesman Ahmed Omar Bani said he was certain Khamis had died alongside Mohammed al-Senussi, son of the country’s feared intelligence chief.