| As files expose ties between Gaddafi regime and US, British intelligence agencies. |
A commander of the fighters said talks over the surrender of Gaddafi's forces in Bani Walid had been scrapped and an assault on the oasis town southeast of Tripoli was imminent.
"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. In reality they have just been taking advantage of the situation to try to save their skins," said Mohamed al-Fassi, checkpoint commander in the village of Shishan, north of Bani Walid.
The new government's interim interior minister Ahmed Darrat said, "We expect Bani Walid to be freed today or tomorrow."
A spokesman for the National Transitional Council (NTC) governing Libya said the frontline was 15-20 km north of Bani Walid and that troops were waiting for orders to advance.
"Last night Gaddafi's forces tried to move out. Our fighters responded and there were some clashes lasting a few minutes," Mahmud Abdelaziz said.
Abdulrazzak Naduri, the deputy chief of the military council in the town of Tarhuna, said Gaddafi's son Saadi was still in Bani Walid, as were other senior figures of the fallen regime, while son Seif al-Islam had fled.
"The revolutionaries have given an ultimatum to the tribal chiefs in Bani Walid. Either they raise the white flag of surrender or the fighting begins." Naduri said in Tarhuna, about 80 km from Bani Walid.
Meanwhile, regime intelligence files seen by AFP on Saturday seem to document co-operation between the CIA, MI6 and the Gaddafi regime, including the shipping of terror suspects for interrogation.
The cache of documents, obtained by Human Rights Watch from a Libyan security archive, includes details about the secret 2004 seizure from Malaysia of an Islamic militant, who amazingly now commands the revolutionary forces in Tripoli.
The letters include an apparent CIA memo informing Libyan officials about the journey of "Abdullah al-Sadiq" and his pregnant wife from Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok, where the US would "take control" of the pair and deliver them to the regime.
Sadiq - called a member of the al-Qaeda-linked Libyan Islamic Fighting Group - is said to be the pseudonym of Abdel-Hakim Belhaj, now in charge of the militia of Libya's new rulers in Tripoli.
The documents also show how the CIA, under the administration of George W. Bush, brought other terror suspects to Libya and suggested questions for Libyan interrogators to ask them.
Another file shows a statement from Gaddafi announcing his regime was giving up weapons of mass destruction was arranged with the help of British officials.