Rebel forces press toward Gadhafi's hometown

TRIPOLI, Libya?? Rebel forces are advancing toward Moammar Gadhafi's hometown despite the extension of the deadline for the town's surrender, rebel officials said Friday, as a U.N. official warned that Libya faces critical but short-term shortages of drinking water, food and other supplies.

While fighting has subsided in much of Libya, including the capital Tripoli, the six-month civil war between rebels and Gadhafi's forces disrupted supply lines and damaged infrastructure across the country, leaving many people in need of help.

In just the past few days, more than half a dozen U.N. agencies have returned to Tripoli to help with the country's humanitarian needs, said the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Libya, Panos Moumtzis. The United Nations has brought in 11 million bottles of water and will bring in 600 tons of food and 100 million euros ($140 million) worth of medicine.

But Moumtzis also said the U.N. help is expected to be temporary.

1. Only on msnbc.com

   1. Perry pushed bill that could boost doctor's firm
   2. Steven Seagal denies role in dog's death
   3. US aims to track 'untraceable' prepaid cash cards
   4. Storm outages endanger those on home oxygen
   5. NBC's Richard Engel answers your questions on 9/11, Libya
   6. Plumpy?nut: Saving lives half a world away
   7. Purple potatoes may help lower blood pressure

"This country has a lot of resources and we view the humanitarian needs as short-term," he said of the oil-rich nation of 6 million people. "I don't foresee the humanitarian program going beyond the end of the year, maximum."

A day after international powers met in Paris and agreed to hand over $15 billion to the rebels who overthrew Gadhafi last week, the European Union, a key trading partner, rescinded a range of sanctions and officials from the National Transitional Council told financiers about their initial rebuilding plans.

NBC's Richard Engel answers reader questions on 9/11, Libya

The NTC's representative in London said that work on putting right the damage of 42 years of eccentric one-man rule and of six months of civil war should not wait until Gadhafi is found and the last bastions of armed support for him are defeated.

"As long as Tripoli, the capital, is stabilized and secure and safe, which it almost is now, and the overwhelming majority of other cities and towns, then Libyans can get on with the process of transition and stabilization and the new political process," Guma El-Gamaty told the BBC.

Story: Libya rebel leader, a former CIA detainee, plays down his Islamist past

Gadhafi still at large
While rebel forces have seized most of the country, they have yet to capture Gadhafi or members of his family. Meanwhile, their forces have been advancing on the few remaining loyalist bastions, including the former dictator's hometown of Sirte.

Rebel council spokesman Abdel-Hafiz Ghoga said that despite the extension of a surrender deadline ? the rebels had originally demanded that Sirte surrender by Saturday, but later gave the loyalists an extra week ? rebel forces have not stopped advancing.

Rebel brigades have pushed to the town of Wadi Hawarah, around 30 miles from Sirte, he said.

"The rebels at the front line are very eager to move without delay. They live in harsh conditions there in the middle of the desert, and in hot weather," he said, adding the rebels preferred a surrender to a bloody attack. "Maybe tomorrow, or the day after, the people of Sirte will raise the independence flag and we can enter peacefully without fighting."

Story: American's 'sick' vacation in Libyan revolution may be over?

"One week is not a big deal," he said, adding that talks were continuing with tribal elders inside Sirte.

Gadhafi's warning: 'We will keep fighting'
In a fiery broadcast from hiding, Gadhafi warned late Thursday that loyal tribes in his main strongholds were armed and preparing for battle ? a show of defiance hours after rebels extended the surrender deadline.

Video: Inside the lavish HQ of Gadhafi?s daughter

The rebels have been hunting for Gadhafi since he was forced into hiding after they swept into Tripoli on Aug. 20 and gained control of most of the capital in days of fierce fighting.

"We won't surrender again; we are not women. We will keep fighting," Gadhafi said in the audio statement, broadcast by Syrian-based Al-Rai TV. His voice was recognizable, and Al-Rai has previously broadcast statements by Gadhafi and his sons.

Gadhafi said the tribes in Sirte and the loyalist stronghold of Bani Walid are armed and "there is no way they will submit."

In a second late-night audio, also broadcast on the Syrian channel, Gadhafi called for a long insurgency. "We will fight them everywhere," he said. "We will burn the ground under their feet."

Video: Misrata in shambles with constant Libyan fighting (on this page)

He said NATO was trying to occupy Libya and steal its oil.

"Get ready to fight the occupation. ... Get ready for a long war, imposed on us," Gadhafi added. "Get ready for the guerrilla war."

He called Sirte "the capital of the resistance."

The rebels dismiss the threats as empty rhetoric. They believe Gadhafi may be in one of their three key targets: Sirte, Bani Walid, which lies 90 miles southeast of Tripoli, or the southern city of Sabha.

Backed by NATO airstrikes, the rebels are pushing toward those three targets.

A history of tribal, ethnic and regional friction as well as divisions during the rebellion have created a wariness, both among Libyans and foreigners, about the ability of the new leaders to bring stable democracy to Libya's six million people.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in Paris on Thursday: "Winning a war offers no guarantee of winning the peace that follows ... We will be watching and supporting Libya's leaders as they keep their stated commitments."

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44369143/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/

rush hour holes da vinci code new england new england fantasy football cheat sheets angels and demons