Libyan Rebels Ask NATO to Keep Military Pressure

Libyan rebel leaders asked NATO on Monday to keep up pressure on elements of Moammar Qaddafi's regime and to protect those struggling to restore electricity and water to the battle-scarred capital of Tripoli.

National Transitional Council head Mustafa Abdul-Jalil told senior NATO envoys meeting in the Gulf Arab nation of Qatar that Qaddafi, who has been in hiding since rebels captured Tripoli a week ago, can still cause trouble.

"Qaddafi is still capable is doing something awful in the last moments," Abdul-Jalil told military chiefs of staff and other key defense officials from NATO nations including France, Italy and Turkey.

"Even after the fighting ends, we still need logistical and military support from NATO," he added. NATO has been bombing Qaddafi's forces since March under a United Nations mandate to protect Libyan civilians.

Rebels appear to have secured the capital after a week of fierce fighting in which they captured Qaddafi's compound and then cleared loyalists holed up in the residential neighborhood of Abu Salim nearby.

Despite effectively ending his rule, the rebels have yet to find Qaddafi or his family members -- something that has cast a pall of lingering uncertainty over the opposition's victory.

Qaddafi's hometown of Sirte, about 250 miles east of Tripoli, is still a bastion of support and some have even speculated that the ousted leader himself may have fled there. Rebels have been converging from the east and west on Sirte, preparing to do battle Qaddafi loyalists. However, no fighting there has been reported yet and rebel leaders say they are trying to negotiate a peaceful surrender with local tribes to avoid further bloodshed.

Rebels say they want to take Qaddafi alive so they can try him in Libya.

"We hope that Qaddafi is still in Libya so we can rid the world of this insect," rebel military spokesman Ahmed Bani said. "The only way to treat this pest is to make him accountable for the crimes in Libya."

Bani also said rebel forces may have killed Qaddafi's son Khamis in a clash Saturday. Rebel clashed with a military convoy in the town of Tarhouna, 50 miles southeast of Tripoli, destroying two vehicles in the convoy. The bodies in the cars were burned beyond recognition, he said, but captured soldier said they were Khamis Qaddafi's bodyguards.

Qaddafi's regime sought to break the uprising that broke out mid-February by using lethal force on protesters and locking up thousands people. Bani said nearly 50,000 people are still missing following six months of civil war. He said they have released some 10,000 prisoners from his regime lockups.

"That poses a question among Libyans: What happened to the rest of the prisoners?" he told reporters in the eastern city of Benghazi Sunday.

Teams are searching for mass graves, and the rebels National Transitional Council is encouraging all with information on the whereabouts of prisoners or their remains to come forward.

The rebel leadership, based in Benghazi throughout the war, has started to move to the capital Tripoli. France also said Monday it was dispatching a team of diplomats to reopen the French embassy there and see how France can aid the city.