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TRIPOLI (Reuters)-insurgents seeking to overthrow Libyan Muammar Gaddafi took about 80 kilometers (50 miles) of the capital, a rebel spokesman told Reuters on Monday, the biggest rebel conquest in weeks.
In neighbouring Tunisia three Libyan Ministers, including Foreign Minister, held talks with the "foreign parties," he told the State News Agency.
The rebels, based in Western Mountainous Region southwest of Tripoli, are fighting pro-Gaddafi forces for control of the city of Bir al-Ghanem, an advance of about 30 km north from their previous location, their spokesman told Reuters.
"We are at the southern and Western outskirts of Bir al-Ghanam," Juma Ibrahim, a spokesman for rebels in the nearby town of Zintan, said by telephone.
"There were battles there most of yesterday. Some of our soldiers were martyred and they (Government forces) has also suffered losses and we captured equipment and vehicles. Today there is quiet and the rebels are still in their positions, "he said.
A Reuters reporter in Central Tripoli heard at least two strong explosions Sunday. The location of the blasts was not clear, you may have seen a plume of smoke rising from the direction of Gaddafi Bab al-Aziziyah.
International Criminal Court judges are scheduled to rule on Monday at the request of prosecutors to issue arrest warrants for Gaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam and al-Sanusi Abdullah brother-in-law of Moammar Gadhafi.
The rebel-backed by NATO air support-I have been fighting forces of Gaddafi since late February, when thousands of people rose up against his 41 years in Government, prompting a fierce crackdown by the security forces of Gaddafi.
The rebellion became the bloodiest uprisings Arab spring sweeping the Middle East.
For weeks, the rebels in their strong grip in the East and Western enclaves in Libya were able to make significant progress, while NATO airstrikes have failed to dislodge Gaddafi, straining the Alliance.
Analysts say that if the rebels outside the capital began gaining momentum, which might inspire groups anti-Gaddafi into the capital to rise, a development which many believe is the most effective way of forcing him out.
TALKS OF TUNISIA
Tunisia news agency TAP reported late Sunday that Libyan Foreign Minister Abdelati Obeidi was on the island of Djerba, Tunisia, where he was negotiating with several foreign parties. "
He gave no details on negotiations. Rebel Leadership of Libya, in the eastern city of Benghazi, said last week that was in indirect contact with the Gaddafi Government, through foreign intermediaries, on a possible peace agreement.
Obeidi joined the talks on the Ahmed Hijazi Djerba Minister of health and Social Affairs Minister Ibrahim Sherif, Tunisian news agency reported.
Libyan officials, who are frequently Djerba is near the border with Libya, a stop in travels foreign because they have ceased flights from Tripoli.
Libyan State television Monday showed Obeidi in Sierra Leone meeting President Ernest Bai Koroma. It was not clear from the footage when the meeting took place.
SIGNS OF DISCORD
Gadhafi says he has no intention of abandoning his grip on power. He said the rebels are criminals and al Qaeda militants and called the NATO bombing campaign, an act of aggression, colonial times to steal oil from Libya.
There were signs of discord within the ruling circle of Gaddafi during the weekend on how best to proceed.
A Government spokesman earlier Sunday renewed an offer to hold elections to decide the political future of Gaddafi. The idea was proposed by one of Gaddafi's sons, Saif al-Islam.
Later in the day, the spokesman for a step back from those remarks, saying Gadhafi was the choice of the Libyan people and could not be set aside.
Moussa Ibrahim, spokesman for the Government "Muammar al-Gaddafi of Libya is a historic landmark, and he is above all political actions, especially political and tactical games," he said in a statement released late Sunday.
"At this stage present and future, Gaddafi are choosing historical that we cannot fall".
"As for Libya, current and future, it is for the people and the leadership to decide, and it is not up to armed groups, or up to NATO to decide it."
"It is not possible for a new phase begin before NATO will stop its aggression against Libya. As for the armed groups, have no force on the ground, nor the popular representation, "said the statement.
(Additional reporting by Joseph Nasr in Berlin, Tarek Amara in Tunis and Algiers Hamid Ould Ahmed; Written by Christian Lowe; Editing by Matthew Jones)
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