Refugees flee Gadhafi's embattled hometown

Families in pickup trucks stacked with mattresses and jugs of water fled Moammar Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte Tuesday ahead of an expected new push by revolutionary forces to seize the city from die-hard loyalists of the fugitive leader.

Fleeing residents said they had been living under a state of siege with Gadhafi's forces preventing them from leaving, while living conditions deteriorated and the city came under constant rocket fire and NATO bombardment.

Revolutionary forces on the western outskirts of the city said they were encouraging residents to leave so they could move in with heavy weapons coming in from Misrata.

"Our guys are going inside the city to give the families what they need, water and fuel so they can leave," field commander Mohammed Mebeggan said as NATO warplanes flew overhead. "We are giving them the opportunity to leave. Today is the last day."

"I tried to leave earlier with my family, but Gadhafi's forces wouldn't let me," said Abdullah Mohammed, 34, a computer engineer travelling with his wife, two daughters and son. "We managed to run away at dawn by taking back roads out of the city."

Youssef Ramadan, 35, said there has been no power since Aug. 20, a day before revolutionary forces swept into the capital Tripoli and forced Gadhafi into hiding.

"There's no fuel and food is running low," he said. "A lot of civilians are stuck in their houses because of the fighting." He said regime forces were using houses, schools and hospitals to store ammunition.

Fighters in Misrata said their plans to root out pro-regime forces in Sirte was focused Tuesday on cutting off military weapons to Gadhafi loyalists coming from the south. The Misrata Military Council said they had secured a road to Weddan, about 280 kilometressouth of Sirte.

Tripoli fell to Gadhafi opponents in late August after a six-month civil war with NATO airstrikes aiding the rebels, marking the collapse of Gadhafi's nearly 42-year rule. While Libya's new leaders have control over much of the country, they have been unable to rout Gadhafi's loyalists from Sirte and two other major strongholds, the mountain enclave of Bani Walid and Sabha, deep in the southern desert.

The ousted Libyan leader tried to rally supporters from hiding on Tuesday, saying in an audio recording that his regime is still alive.

"What is happening in Libya is a charade gaining its legitimacy through airstrikes that will not last forever," he said in the statement broadcast on the Syrian-based Al-Rai TV, which has become his mouthpiece. "It's hard to bring down this regime because it represents millions of Libyans."

NATO has launched more than 8,700 strike sorties on Libya since late March, with the latest attacks Monday focusing on armed vehicles and rocket systems in Sirte as well as air missile systems and facilities in Sabha, NATO said in a statement. The Western military alliance said it also struck a command control node in Bani Walid.

The transitional Libyan government has insisted it will press forward with efforts to rebuild the government despite the continued fighting. But Gadhafi's continued defiance has raised fears the country could face a protracted insurgency such as those in Iraq and Afghanistan.

U.S. President Barack Obama warned dark days lie ahead for the Libyan people as they try to reshape their country, promising the world will stand with them and announcing that the U.S. ambassador was heading back to Tripoli to lead a reopened American Embassy there.

At a high level United Nations meeting in New York, Obama said the NATO-led bombing campaign in Libya will continue as long as civilians are threatened. He urged Gadhafi loyalists to lay down their arms and join the new Libya, declaring, "the old regime is over."