Negotiations held primarily with Muammar Gaddafi’s chief spokesman over the peaceful surrender of a regime stronghold have failed, a rebel spokesman said.

NEGOTIATIONS held primarily with Muammar Gaddafi’s chief spokesman over the peaceful surrender of a regime stronghold have failed, a rebel spokesman said last night.

ONE of Muammar Gaddafi’s sons has tried to negotiate his own surrender, according to the rebel commander in Tripoli.

One of Muammar Gaddafi’s sons has tried to negotiate his own surrender, according to the rebel commander in Tripoli.

Muammar Gaddafi’s spokesman said today a surrender-by-Saturday ultimatum to the fugitive dictator’s henchmen in his home town would be rejected.

LIBYAN rebels have rejected an offer by Colonel Muammar Gaddafi to negotiate and said they have captured the eastern town of Bin Jawwad, forcing regime loyalists to flee after days of fighting.

Libyan rebels today rejected an offer by Colonel Muammar Gaddafi to negotiate and said they have captured the eastern town of Bin Jawwad, forcing regime loyalists to flee after days of fighting.

Loyalists of Muammar Gaddafi killed at least 17 detainees and arbitrarily executed dozens of civilians as rebels moved into Tripoli, a human rights group said today.

Muammar Gaddafi is in Libya and leading the fight against the rebels, his spokesman said today.

A reward of over €1m is on offer for anyone able to capture Colonel Muammar Gaddafi dead or alive as it emerged today that the SAS was leading the hunt for the Libyan despot.

LIBYA’S new masters offered a £1 million bounty for the fugitive Muammar Gaddafi yesterday, after he urged his men to carry on a battle that kept the capital in a state of fear.

Muammar Gaddafi has called on the residents of the Libyan capital to "free Tripoli" from the "devils" who have overrun it.

Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s 40-year regime appeared to be crumbling today as euphoric Libyan rebels swept into Tripoli amid calls for the leader to “go now”.

AMID celebratory gunfire and jubilant singing and chanting, Libyan rebels claimed victory against the north African nation’s long-time oppressor Muammar Gaddafi in the leader’s stronghold of Tripoli.

Rebels clashed with regime loyalists and staged large anti-government protests around Tripoli today.

Libyan rebels today claimed they were less than 20 miles from Muammar Gaddafi's main stronghold of Tripoli, a day after opposition fighters launched their first attack on the capital itself.

Explosions and heavy gunfire were reported in the Libyan capital Tripoli as rebel forces claimed they had launched an offensive against Muammar Gaddafi's forces in coordination with Nato.

The United Nations’ special envoy for Libya is meeting representatives of both sides of the conflict.

LIBYAN rebels hoisted their flag in the centre of Zawiyah near the capital yesterday, cutting off Muammar Gaddafi’s capital from its main link to the outside world.

Libyan rebels have fought their way into the strategic city of Zawiya west of Tripoli on in their most significant advance in months, battling snipers on rooftops and heavy shelling from Muammar Gaddafi’s forces holding the city.

THE government of Muammar Gaddafi denied a rebel report yesterday that a NATO air strike had killed the Libyan leader’s powerful son Khamis, commander of one of the government’s most loyal and best-equipped units.

LIBYAN rebels have taken over the eastern oil hub of Brega, in their most significant advance in months against forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi.

Representatives of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's embattled government held face-to-face talks with US officials in neighbouring Tunisia over the weekend, a Libyan government official said today.

Delegates from more than 30 countries have decided to recognise the Libyan opposition as the “legitimate authority of Libya”, according to the Italian foreign minister.

Delegates from nearly 40 countries seeking an end to the Libyan conflict met in Istanbul today to discuss more financial aid and diplomatic support to the country’s main opposition group as the rebels struggle to defeat Col Muammar Gaddafi’s forces.

THE Libyan government yesterday renewed its offer to hold a vote on whether Muammar Gaddafi should stay in power, a proposal unlikely to interest Gaddafi’s opponents but which could widen differences inside NATO.

The Libyan government said civilians were killed in a Nato airstrike that hit a residential neighbourhood in Tripoli, adding to charges that the alliance is striking non-military targets.

Muammar Gaddafi stood defiant yesterday in the face of the heaviest and most punishing Nato airstrikes yet – at least 40 daylight attacks that sent plumes of smoke billowing above the Libyan leader’s central Tripoli compound.

Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi cast doubt on Libyan reports that Muammar Gaddafi’s son and three grandchildren were killed in a Nato air strike, saying coalition forces believed the claim to be “propaganda”.

Nato warplanes have bombarded targets in Tripoli with more than 20 air strikes around Muammar Gaddafi’s residential compound early today, in what appeared to be the heaviest night of bombing in the Libyan capital since the Western alliance launched its air campaign against his forces.

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi taunted Nato, saying he was alive despite a series of air strikes and “in a place where you can’t get to and kill me”.

Pressure is mounting on Muammar Gaddafi from within his stronghold in the Libyan capital, with increasing Nato air strikes, worsening shortages of fuel and goods and a wave of anti-government protests in several neighbourhoods, according to an activist.

Nato air strikes have hit Muammar Gaddafi’s sprawling compound in Tripoli and three other sites, hours after the Libyan leader was shown on state TV in his first appearance since his son was killed nearly two weeks ago.

Libyan rebels pressing to break a two-month siege in Misrata said they had captured the local airport and pushed Muammar Gaddafi’s forces ever further from the port city’s western outskirts.

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has escaped a Nato missile strike in Tripoli, but one of his sons and three grandchildren under the age of 12 were killed, a government spokesman said.

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi called for a ceasefire and negotiations with Nato powers in a live speech on state TV early today, as Nato bombs struck a government complex in the capital, Tripoli.

Muammar Gaddafi has called Nato to decalre a ceasefire in Libya, in a rambling speech which lasted more than an hour and was broadcast on television.

Holding out under a rain of shelling and sniper fire, rebels in Misrata, their last major foothold in western Libya, fought Muammar Gaddafi’s forces in close-quarter battles in the city centre.

Nato’s secretary general has said he expects member nations to provide extra ground-attack aircraft soon to strike Muammar Gaddafi’s forces in Libya.

Libyan government forces have unleashed a withering bombardment on rebels outside a key oil town, pushing them back even as the regime said Muammar Gaddafi might consider some reforms but would not step down.

The Libyan government says Muammar Gaddafi will not step down but the regime is ready to discuss changes in how the country is governed.

Muammar Gaddafi struck a defiant stance after two high-profile defections from his regime, saying he was not the one who should go but the Western leaders who decimated his military with air strikes.

Libya has played down the resignation of Foreign Minister Musa Kusa says it is a personal decision driven by health problems, not a sign that the embattled regime is cracking at the highest levels.

Libya has shrugged off the defection of foreign minister Musa Kusa insisting it is involved in “a struggle of a whole nation”.