Two men claiming to be Moammar Qaddafi's sons made conflicting appeals from hiding Wednesday night, with one of them calling for talks with rebel leaders and the other urging the regime's loyalists to fight to the death.
The dueling messages reflected the growing turmoil in Qaddafi's inner circle on the eve of th 42nd anniversary of his rise to power. This year, the dictator is a fugitive from opposition fighters who have seized most of the country in a six-month civil war. Now, they say they're hot on his trail.
The rebels are pooling tips about Moammar Qaddafi's whereabouts from captured regime fighters and others, nd believe he is most likely no longer in Tripoli, said Abdel Hakim Belhaj, the rebels' military chief in the capital.
Rebel forces have been advancing toward three regime strongholds: the town of Sirte, Qaddafi's hometown, as well as the towns of Bani Walid and Sabha, the latter hundreds of miles south of the capital of Tripoli.
There has been speculation that Qaddafi is hiding in one of them.
In telephone calls to Arab TV stations within minutes of each other Wednesday night, two men claiming to be Qaddafi's sons sent messages to the Libyan people.
A man identifying himself as Seif al-Islam Qaddafi urged his father's supporters to fight the rebels "day and night." He told the Syrian-based Al-Rai TV station that residents of Bani Walid agreed that "we are going to die on our land."
He said NATO carried out several airstrikes in Bani Walid that killed people.
"All move right now," said Seif al-Islam, nce considered the moderate face of the Qaddafi regime and the leader's heir apparent.
"Attack the rats," he said, referring to the rebels.
He said he was calling from a suburb of Tripoli and that his father "is fine."
The caller dismissed comments by Belhaj that another Qaddafi son, al-Saadi, was negotiating the terms of his surrender. Seif al-Islam said his brother was under pressure, in part out of concern for his family.
In a separate phone call to the Al-Arabiya TV station, a man identifying himself as al-Saadi said he was ready to negotiate with the rebels to stop the bloodshed. Rebel leaders have repeatedly said they won't negotiate until Qaddafi is gone.
Al-Saadi said he spoke for his father and regime military commanders in calling for talks. He said that the rebels could lead Libya.
"We don't mind. We are all Libyans," he said. "We have no problem to give them power."
The voice of Seif al-Islam - who was reportedly captured by the rebels earlier this month only to turn up free and defiant in Tripoli - was easily recognizable, but al-Saadi's was more difficult to confirm.
"The regime is dying," said rebel council spokesman Abdel-Hafiz Ghoga, reacting to the two statements. "Qaddafi's family is trying to find an exit."
"They only have to surrender completely to the rebels and we will offer them a fair trial. We won't hold negotiations with them over anything," he added.
Ghoga told The Associated Press later Wednesday that the rebels learned two days ago that Qaddafi and his sons Seif al-Islam and al-Saadi were in Bani Walid, but now he doesn't know their whereabouts.
Hassan al-Saghir, a rebel official who oversees an area that includes the southern city of Sabha, repeated an ultimatum for Qaddafi's supporters to surrender by Saturday but said there were no signs of that.
"I think they still think they are able to control the south," he said. "It is a desperate attempt and it will not last long."
