Gaddafi troops 'used human shields'

Libya’s warring sides in the Gaddafi stronghold of Sirte are now engaged in “discussions”, according to Nato.

Col Roland Lavoie said Nato’s role will continue as long as civilians in the country are under threat, although the area around the capital Tripoli is now “essentially free”.

Meanwhile, an Algerian newspaper reported that the government has moved to partially close Algeria’s south-eastern border with Libya after members of Muammar Gaddafi’s family fled across it.

The El-Watan daily cited unidentified diplomatic officials saying security forces have been deployed to shut the border.

Yesterday, the Algerian Foreign Ministry confirmed Gaddafi’s wife Safia, his sons Hannibal and Mohammed, and his daughter Aisha had entered Algeria.

The Algerian Health Ministry later said Gaddafi’s daughter Aisha has given birth to a baby girl.

Sirte is heavily militarised and shows no signs yet of surrendering.

Mustafa Abdel Jalil, the head of the National Transitional Council, said that negotiations with forces in Sirte would end on 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 Lavoie said he would not discount the possibility that control of Sirte could change from Gaddafi to rebel peacefully.

“We have seen dialogues in several villages that were freed – I’m not saying with no hostilities, but with minimal hostilities,” he said.

The rebels also demanded that Algeria return Gaddafi’s family after they fled, raising tensions between the neighboring countries.

The departure of Gaddafi’s family was one of the strongest signs yet that the long-time leader has lost his grip on the country.

Algeria’s decision to host members of the Gaddafi clan is an “aggressive act against the Libyan people’s wish,” said Mahmoud Shammam, information minister in the rebels’ interim government.