Rebels attempting to oust Colonel Muammar Gaddafi have dismissed reports that they have engaged in secret talks with the Libyan leader and insist his days are numbered.
Gaddafi has been in power for 41 years, but the 69-year-old is finding himself increasingly isolated in the capital, Tripoli, with reinvigorated rebel forces closing in from the west and south.
Libya's rebel National Transitional Council (NTC), recognised by many of the NATO nations whose air power is supporting their assault, denied any kind of negotiation with Gaddafi to resolve the six-month-old conflict.
‘The NTC would like to affirm that there are no negotiations either direct or indirect with the Gaddafi regime or with the special envoy of the United Nations,’ said its leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil.
Gaddafi must step down and leave Libya, he said. ‘It is unthinkable to hold any negotiations or talks that disregard this basic principle.’
US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said Gaddafi's forces had been thrown back onto the defensive, and reports that a senior figure in the Libyan security apparatus had defected indicated the regime was cracking.
‘Gaddafi's forces are weakened and this latest defection is another example of how weak they've gotten,’ Mr Panetta said.
‘I think the sense is that Gaddafi's days are numbered,’ Panetta said at event with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
At a news conference broadcast by Libyan state television, government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim dismissed reports that Gaddafi's forces were on the run but acknowledged fighting in several locations the rebels say they have already captured.
‘Be aware of the media campaign which is trying to make the rebels bigger than they are,’ he said.
‘Some foreign politicians have said this regime's days are finished and it has weeks left. They have been saying this for six months and we are still here.’
Rebels fighting to topple Gaddafi seized two strategic towns near Tripoli over the past two days, cutting the city off from its supply lines and leaving the Libyan leader with a dwindling set of options if he is to stay in power.
However, pro-Gaddafi forces were mounting a fight-back in Zawiyah, west of Tripoli. Snipers in tall buildings were picking off rebel fighters, and salvos of rockets landed in the town.
