Libyan Rebels Prepare for Assault on Qaddafi's Home Town

SIRTE, Libya – Libyan rebel troops camped outside former dictator Muammar Qaddafi's home town were preparing for battle Friday as a deadline for Sirte's surrender approached.

A cease-fire has been observed between Transitional National Council (TNC) soldiers and Qaddafi loyalists for most of the past week while negotiations for a peaceful handover of Sirte -- 230 miles (371km) southeast of the capital Tripoli -- took place.

The deadline for a deal expires Saturday and anti-Qaddafi forces on the town's outskirts are preparing weapons and even graves for the possibility that talks fail and the fighting resumes.

One told Sky News, "We have definitely got the strength and power for the army to move forwards and get into Sirte and we've also got the passion to move us forward because we're fighting for a reason here."

As the deadline approaches, Qaddafi himself remains defiant, describing Sirte on Thursday as "the capital of the resistance" and vowing, "We won't surrender again; we are not women. We will keep fighting."

TNC forces are also poised to advance on the town of Sabha -- in the center of Libya, 410 miles (660km) south of Tripoli -- which is mostly under the control of forces loyal to the deposed leader.

Sabha and Bani Walid have been subject to the same deadline to surrender as Sirte. The three towns are believed to be places the fleeing Qaddafi may have turned to after leaving Tripoli.

As both sides prepared for fresh clashes, Amnesty International accused the forces supporting Qaddafi of locking 29 people in a metal box in the desert near Tripoli during June and leaving them to suffocate in baking heat. Only 10 survived.

At a meeting of world leaders in Paris on Thursday, TNC leaders promised elections within eight months and vowed to reward the countries that supported its revolution.

"The world bet on the Libyans and the Libyans showed their courage and made their dream real," said Mahmoud Jibril, the nation's new prime minister.