Rebels facing fierce resistance in Sirte, Bani Walid

The battles for control of the last Gaddafi strongholds ebb and flow with no end yet in sight Benghazi – Imad Ajaj The NTC’s leader, Mahmoud Jibril, has announced that the establishment of Libya’s new government has been postponed “indefinitely” following disputes over portfolios. The NTC had hoped to announce Libya’s cabinet on Sunday. The government is expected to include 30 ministers.
A source told Arabstoday that Jibril hoped that the discussions would end soon.
Jibril apparently expects to form a national unity government with representatives from across the country within the next ten days.
Jibril has said that a key principle of the new government will be encouraging women and young people to become deputy ministers and ministry directors.
Osama al-Juwili is expected to become Minister of Defence and Abdel Rahman bin Yezza is expected to be the new Minister for Oil.
Jibril is expected to remain interim premier, while Ali Tarhuni will become Vice President in charge of economic affairs.
Jibril has said that “if there is someone else who is better-placed to take my position, then I will resign.”
Jibril will also remain chief of foreign affairs until a suitable replacement is found.
Arabstoday has been told that Ain Mahmoud Shamam, who currently handles the NTC’s media, has been excluded from the NTC.
Naji Barakat and Ahmed Al Darrat, the chiefs of the health and interior portfolios respectfully, will also be excluded.
It is unclear whether Jalal Al Dugheili, who currently holds the defence portfolio, will be part of the new government.
However, serious divisions have emerged over the cabinet appointments.
Jibril, a former Gaddafi official has been accused of failing to consult with grass roots opposition groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood.
The Chairman of the Libyan Muslim Brotherhood, Suleiman Abdul Qader, claims that the government has not contacted his group.  
“We want to hear the voice of all Libyan political factions with no exception. The Muslim Brotherhood’s members have a right to be represented in government”, he said.
Qader was otherwise largely-complimentary of the NTC’s progress.
The Brotherhood’s newspaper, Libya Today, said: “the Brotherhood has not been consulted on the necessary conditions and standards for forming a new government. The aim of the new government is to benefit and serve Libyans all over the country.”
Dr. Abdul Rahman Al Swaihili, the leader of the February 17 revolution also called for the timely formation of a unity government.
He also warned of the possible emergence of the emergence of a new dictatorship in Libya under a different name.
“Many people feel that there is a new dictatorship on the way in Libya and that the NTC is beginning to control the media”, he said.
Swaihili believes that the world shouldn’t be fearful of Libyan Islamists participating in government.
“Not all Islamists are extremists. The majority are moderate Islamists that no one should be afraid of.”
However, difficulties were not only political. On Sunday dozens of workers from petroleum and cement companies protested in Benghazi outside the NTC headquarters, as they demanded their wages, which had not been paid for 6 months.
Gaddafi’s diehards also put up stiff resistance in their remaining strongholds. Progress by NTC fighters hoping to crush the last pockets of resistance in Gaddafi bastions appeared to have stalled as the fugitive's loyalists in his hometown of Sirte and the oasis of Bani Walid refused to yield. On the battlefield, Gaddafi diehards in his hometown Sirte and in Bani Walid stood their ground as NTC combatants tried to break their morale by preparing for a new multi-pronged advance.
NTC military spokesman Ahmed Omar Bani said he expected Gaddafi forces in Sirte and Bani Walid to be defeated in a "matter of days," and military commanders said they had gained some ground. "We are now 38 kilometres (23.5 miles) from Sirte," Mustafa bin Dardaf, a commander with the Zintan Brigade, told AFP on the eastern front.
"Since the morning we have taken 20-25 kilometres. Our fighters at this moment have entered the town of Sultana and are searching for Gaddafi forces. "There haven't been many civilians fleeing from this side of Sirte, but many have fled out to the southeast," he added.
Another commander, Walid al-Feturi of Al-Qabha Brigade, told AFP the fighters were clearing roads for civilians to flee Sirte. "We are trying to get out family and children step by step," Feturi said.
Earlier, an AFP correspondent reported that new regime forces advancing from the east had come under steady rocket and machine-gun fire.
A spokesman for Misrata Military Council, the command node for the Sirte offensive, said fighters had been expecting fierce resistance in Gaddafi's hometown but that they were prepared to pay the ultimate price.
"We expected a lot of people to die," said Fathi Bashaga.
"This is a Gaddafi stronghold. We plan to continue fighting Gaddafi no matter what he have to sacrifice."
The AFP correspondent said at least 12 tanks loaded with fighters massed on Sunday east of Sirte, with crouching fighters advancing slowly through the desert scrub.
Meanwhile, doctors in a field hospital set up at a petrol station five kilometres (three miles) from the city centre, said they received five wounded and one dead by late on Sunday. At least 40 fighters have been reported killed since NTC fighters launched an offensive against Sirte on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Bani admitted there were difficulties on the battlefield but predicted that "in a few days the situation will completely change in Sirte and Bani Walid which will be under our control." The "geographical nature and the strong presence of snipers" in Bani Walid is preventing a quick victory in the oasis, 180 kilometres (110 miles) southeast of Tripoli, he told reporters in Tripoli.
"We managed to enter the town on the north side that we control. We have advanced towards the centre but we were attacked by snipers and mercenaries who have launched rockets from the mountains," he said.
Gaddafi loyalists were also putting up stiff resistance in Bani Walid, an AFP correspondent said. The new leadership's forces are trying to take new ground there, with some pushing further into the town as others gathered some six kilometres (3.7 miles) from its centre. An NTC commander told AFP the battle for Bani Walid resumed at midday after unrelenting clashes from midday on Saturday until early dawn. Correspondents heard loud explosions and intermittent gunfire from inside the town, and rockets exploded near NTC positions on the outskirts.
"There is an unconfirmed number of wounded from today's fighting," Dr Mabruk Kornfan said. Some fighters left the town with loyalist prisoners, as residents of Bani Walid fled. "There is no electricity and no food in the town," Mohammed al-Khazmi told AFP. "There are many rebels inside fighting forces loyal to Gaddafi, but they are meeting stiff resistance." At least seven NTC fighters have been reported killed over the past two days in Bani Walid. NATO has kept pounding Gaddafi's remaining armour, saying its warplanes hit 11 targets around Sirte on Saturday, 11 targets in Al-Jufra oasis and three in Sabha in the deep south.