Reply #8: Kadhafi troops fire on fleeing family convoy [View All]

[tabatha]

SIRTE, Libya — A fighter for Libya's interim government helping desperate residents flee Moamer Kadhafi's hometown was killed on Friday and a packed family car was destroyed when pro-Kadhafi forces fired on their convoy, a local commander said.

One month to the day since Kadhafi's compound fell to rebels in Tripoli, the campaign to take Sirte and the fugitive ex-Libyan leader's other remaining bastion of Bani Walid was on hold for another day.

Asked why National Transitional Council (NTC) fighters were delaying a final assault on Sirte, commander Osama Muttawa Swehly said "we're trying to get the families out.

"We are averaging between 400 to 500 cars a day. We are basically trying to starve (the Kadhafi forces) out."

He said reports from inside the city are that there is no electricity, the water is cut off, shops are closed and people are running out of food.

"We are giving the families every chance to get out. Once that stream turns into a trickle then stops, then it will be time to act. We don't want victory at any cost."

One resident, Malik Mohammed Ferjani, left with about 40 relatives in a seven-car convoy on Friday, saying he was on a Kadhafi hit list.

"People are being executed by Kadhafi soldiers," Ferjani said. "Kadhafi soldiers have a list of 500 names; my name is on that list."

The family decided to flee "after they fired three rockets at my house this morning," he said.

He was speaking at a field hospital 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Sirte, where NTC officials were searching cars coming from the city before allowing them to proceed.

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