Libya's rebel National Transitional Council says it is moving its political leadership to the capital, Tripoli, from its eastern stronghold city of Benghazi.
Council official Ali Tarhouni, in charge of financial matters, on Thursday declared “the beginning and assumption of the executive committee's work in Tripoli.”
The announcement came as embattled Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi urged his supporters to rise up and defeat the rebels trying to oust him from power.
In a short audio broadcast Thursday, he described his opponents as “rats” and denounced foreign countries for their involvement in the conflict.
Meanwhile, fierce gunbattles between pro-Gadhafi forces and opposition fighters continued in at least two areas of Tripoli.
In the Abu Salim neighborhood, a pro-Gadhafi stronghold, rebels have been conducting raids in search of Gadhafi loyalists. Opposition fighters have been pouring into Tripoli to help combat the remnants of pro-Gadhafi forces and were reportedly advancing toward the Libyan leader's hometown of Sirte, where his loyalists have been massing for a showdown.
Meanwhile, British Defense Minister Liam Fox said Thursday NATO is helping rebels in their hunt for Mr. Gadhafi and members of his government by providing the rebels with intelligence and reconnaissance equipment to aid in their search. However, NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said the alliance does not target individuals.
In Washington, the State Department said it believes Libya's stockpiles of mustard gas and a low-enriched uranium called yellowcake are secure. Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the United States monitors these stockpiles through its “national technical means” and that Libya no longer has the means to turn the yellowcake into fissile material for bombs. She added, however, that shoulder-fired missiles known as “MANPADS” remain the main proliferation concern.
Also Thursday, foreign correspondents in Tripoli viewed the bodies of at least 15 men who appeared to have been executed. It was not clear who killed them.
In another development, Mr. Gadhafi's one-time close associate, Abdel Salam Jalloud, said he was in talks with opposition forces to create a new political party. Jalloud, who fled Tripoli for Italy last week, said the new party will be a nationalist, liberal and secular party.
He said he did not know Mr. Gadhafi's whereabouts, but thought that the embattled Libyan leader was hiding either in Tripoli, on the Algerian border, or in his hometown of Sirte, heading eventually for the desert, possibly dressed as a woman.
Meanwhile, the International Organization for Migration said it began evacuating foreigners who wanted to leave Tripoli. The group said Thursday that about 200 people boarded a ship docked near the capital.
