Libyan government fighters captured Muammar Gaddafi's sonMo'tassim in Sirte on Wednesday after he tried to escape the battle-torn cityin a car with a family, officials with the National Transitional Council (NTC)told Reuters.
The capture of the deposed leader's national securityadviser, and the first member of the Gaddafi family, is a big boost to Libya'snew rulers whose forces are still battling pro-Gaddafi fighters in his hometown of Sirte.
"He was arrested today in Sirte," Colonel AbdullahNaker told Reuters. Other NTC sources said Mo'tassim was taken to Benghaziwhere he was questioned at the Boatneh military camp where he is being held. Hewas uninjured but exhausted.
Hundreds of NTC fighters took to the streets in severalLibyan cities and fired shots in the air in celebration after Arab televisionchannels broadcast the news of his arrest.
Gaddafi loyalists have fought tenaciously for weeks inSirte, one of just two major towns where they still have footholds, two monthsafter rebels seized the capital Tripoli.
But NTC fighters have made significant advances in Sirte inrecent days. On Wednesday they said they were fighting pro-Gaddafi fighters intwo small areas in the city.
Many people who study Libya believe Mo'tassim belongs to aconservative camp -- rooted in the military and security forces -- whichresisted his brother Saif al-Islam's reform attempts.
A senior NTC military official told Reuters that Mo'tassimhad cut his usually long hair shorter to disguise himself.
Gaddafi and his most politically prominent son, SaifAl-Islam, have been on the run since the fall of Tripoli in August. Gaddafihimself is believed to be hiding somewhere far to the south in the vast Libyandesert.
His daughter Aisha, her brothers Hannibal and Mohammed,their mother Safi and several other family members fled to Algeria in Augustand have lived their since. Another son, Saadi, is in Niger.
'80 PERCENT UNDER OUR CONTROL'
NTC fighters in Sirte walked up the same battle-scarredstreets strewn with empty ammunition cases where they had fought fierce clashesa day before. Other fighters searched damaged houses as a few civilians emergedfrom their basements.
"More than 80 percent of Sirte is now under ourcontrol. Gaddafi's men are still in parts of the Number Two and the 'Dollar'neighborhoods," said NTC commander Mustah Hamza.
In the "Number Two" neighborhood, governmentforces found 25 corpses wrapped in plastic sheets. They accused pro-Gaddafimilitias of carrying out execution-style killings.
Five corpses shown to a Reuters team wore civilian clothesand had their hands tied behind their backs and gunshot wounds to the head.
"There are about 25 innocent people with their handstied. There is no humanity. It's sad," said NTC commander Salem al Fitouristanding besides the corpses, which he said had been there for at least fivedays.
Green flags, the banner of Gaddafi's 42 years in power,still flew above many of the buildings in the neighborhood, but all appearedquiet.
NTC fighters maneuvered a tank into a small side streetflooded with sewage from a burst pipe. It fired a few rounds at a largebuilding up ahead, then infantrymen moved in, letting off bursts from theirAK-47s as they advanced up the street.
At first, there was very little return of fire from thepro-Gaddafi side. But the government fighters had walked into an ambush. Hit bya hail of RPG and small arms fire, the NTC men scrambled back to safety, onenursing a wound to his hand.
Medical workers at a hospital outside Sirte said four NTCfighters were killed and 43 others were wounded on Wednesday.
The NTC has said it will start the process of rebuildingLibya as a democracy only after the capture of Sirte, a former fishing village transformedby Gaddafi into a showpiece for his rule, replete with lavish conference hallsand hotels.
NTC chairman Mustafa Abdel Jalil said on a visit to Sirte onTuesday that it would take two more days to take the town.
But the remnants of Gaddafi's forces, surrounded on threesides in Sirte and with their backs to the sea, have so far fought tenaciously,perhaps believing they face mistreatment or worse at the hands of theirill-disciplined foe.
Back from the front line, fighters from the NationalTransitional Council jostled with one another as one man tried to punch awounded prisoner and others struggled to keep him off. The prisoner repeatedlyshouted out that he was a civilian.
"But you had a gun," his captors said.
"I never used it," he said, fear in his eyes.
Any male of fighting age still in Sirte was under suspicion.
"We were staying in a basement," one man, GamalAmmar, said alongside family members. "Some of us were hit. If we had diedit would have been better. We had no water and no food. We couldn't getout." As NTC fighters drew near, he fell silent.
One man held up a passport and said: "I am Sudanese andI was not fighting." He was put in plastic cuffs and led away.
Gaddafi recruited large numbers of black Africans to hisforces. NTC fighters often accuse every black man, including migrant workers,of having fought for the former leader.
Four other men being taken away on the back of a pick-uptruck said they were from Chad and also denied taking part in the conflict.
NTC fighters pushed back reporters trying to talk to them."They are liars, we found guns with them," one said.