Sirte (Libya), Oct 13: One of the sons of ousted Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has been arrested in his hometown of Sirte, the new leadership said as its forces mopped up the last isolated pockets of resistance.
“Mutassim Gaddafi was captured at Sirte and was transferred to Benghazi” in the country's east, National Transitional Council (NTC) advisor Abdelkarim Bizama told AFP.
Gaddafi opponents fired shots in the air in the capital Tripoli and Misrata after news of Mutassim's arrest broke.
Born in 1975, Mutassim Gaddafi is a career soldier and doctor who held the title of national security adviser. He had been considered a rival to his brother Seif al-Islam in any bid to succeed their father.
Seif al-Islam is believed to be hiding in Bani Walid, possibly with Muammar Gaddafi who remains at large weeks after opposition forces captured the capital, Tripoli, in late August ending the Libyan strongman's four-decade rule of the north African nation.
Forces of Libya's new regime said yesterday they were mopping up the last pockets of resistance in Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte, maintaining its fall was imminent.
A day after seizing Sirte's police headquarters, the National Transitional Council (NTC) forces spent the day closing in from the east and west on the last hold-outs of pro-Gaddafi forces.
Hundreds of NTC combatants in pickup trucks fired rockets from the west of the Mediterranean city, aiming to capture the city and declare the liberation of Libya, clearing the way to set a timetable for post-Gaddafi elections. AFP
