Libyan freedom fighters demand Qaddafi forces surrender

TRIPOLI, Libya – Libyan rebels pledged Tuesday to launch an assault within days on Muammar Qaddafi’s hometown, the ousted strongman’s last major bastion of support.

The rebels and NATO said that Qaddafi loyalists were negotiating the fate of Sirte, a heavily militarized city some 250 miles east of the capital, Tripoli.

Mustafa Abdel Jalil, the head of the rebels’ National Transitional Council, said that negotiations with forces in Sirte would end 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.”

Col. Roland Lavoie, a NATO spokesman, said it’s possible Sirte might surrender without a fight.