Algeria has said that members of Muammar Gadafy's family have entered the country following the fall of Tripoli to rebels.
The country's foreign ministry confirmed Col Gadafy's sons Mohammed and Hannibal, his wife Safia and daughter Aisha, were in Algeria leading to criticism from Libya's rebels who said sheltering the family was an "act of aggression".
The White House said this evening it had seen no indication that Col Gadafy himself had left Libya.
The Egyptian news agency MENA, quoting unidentified rebel fighters, had reported from Tripoli over the weekend that six armoured Mercedes sedans, possibly carrying Gadafy’s sons or other top regime figures, had crossed the border at the south-western Libyan town of Ghadamis into Algeria. Algeria’s Foreign Ministry had denied that report.
It was also reported today that Col Gadafy's son Khamis had been killed in clashes with rebel forces, although this has yet to be confirmed.
Forces loyal to the deposed leader in his hometown of Sirte are urging people to fight or be killed by blood-thirsty attackers, complicating efforts to arrange a peaceful surrender of the city, opponents of Col Gadafy said today.
Anti-Gadafy forces approached Sirte, 450km east of Tripoli by road, from east and west. They say they would rather not fight for the city but talks seem stalled.
"I can't say there's any real progress because we have difficulty with the regime people from Tripoli," said Hassan Droy, the National Transitional Council (NTC) representative for Sirte, who is based in the eastern city of Benghazi.
"They're trying to tell the people that the battle is no longer for Gadafy but to protect themselves," he said, adding that three days ago a message from Col Gadafy was broadcast in Sirte, urging people to fight to save themselves. Col Gadafy's own whereabouts are unknown.
Another spokesman, Mohammad Zawawi, said Gadafy loyalists were telling people that the rebels wanted to kill them.
"But we are sending a clear message that our troops won't kill anyone." That message had been passed via satellite telephone to rebel sympathisers in Sirte, who were spreading it, he said.
Sirte, which Col Gadafy developed from a small village to a city of 100,000 people, is the ousted leader's last bastion on the coast, where most of Libya's six million people live. Many of the city's residents belong to his Gaddafa tribe.
NTC spokesman Shamsiddin Abdulmolah said most people in Sirte were against Col Gadafy.
"But it's the minority of Gadafy loyalists who have the weapons," he said. "They're using all kinds of scare tactics but it's a losing strategy."
Mr Abdulmolah said NTC forces had heard that about 45 Gaddafi soldiers and officers had been executed in Sirte after refusing to fight for what they saw as a lost cause. There was no independent confirmation.
Mr Zawawi said the main force of fighters from the east was almost 100 km from Sirte, although small units had pushed ahead. The force coming from the west was about 30km from the city.
Some fighters were moving to cut a road linking Sirte with the desert town of Sabha, another Gadafy stronghold about 500km to the southwest, Mr Zawawi said.
Mustafa Abdel Jalil, chairman of the NTC, asked Nato to pursue its five-month-old air campaign, which has given essential firepower to rebels who rose against Col Gadafy in February.
"I call for continued protection from Nato and its allies from this tyrant," he said in Qatar, a tiny but wealthy Gulf Arab state that has backed the revolt. "He is still a threat, not just for Libyans but for the entire world."
Nato aircraft have been bombing military positions and ammunition dumps of pro-Gadafy forces in Sirte.
Human rights groups say both sides have executed prisoners, but Mr Droy said the message to Gadafy loyalists was that there would be no reprisal killings when Sirte is taken.
"We have our people in Sirte ready to take control. They are ready to put these people safely in jail where they will wait for a trial."
Anti-Gadafy forces say time is on their side and there is no deadline for the defenders to give up, adding that the city is without power and is running short of food and medicine.
"Day by day, the people who are trying to get the Gadafy soldiers to put down their guns are getting stronger and stronger," said Mr Droy.
Mr Abdulmolah said: "It's a waiting game in favour of the liberating forces."
Agencies