There has been heavy fighting in the former Libyan leader Muammar Al Qathafi's hometown of Sirte where hundreds of loyalists keep offering strong resistance to defend the city on the Mediterranean coast against the National Transitional Council's fighters, but later in the day there were reports indicating that an elder from inside the city talked about a truce, that was however rejected.

Touhami Zayani, commander of the El-Farouk brigade on the western edge of Sirte, which is encircled by NTC forces and under bombardment from NATO warplanes, was reported telling Reuters that he was in talks with Al Qathafi loyalists about a truce, but the head of another anti-Al Qathafi unit rejected negotiations.

Touhami Zayani, said that an elder from Al Qathafi's tribe, whom he did not identify, had contacted him on his satellite phone from inside Sirte and told him they were looking for a safe passage for the families and for the militia to leave the city.

Zayani said he had given his agreement for families from Al Qathafi's tribe, who make up the majority of Sirte's population, to be allowed to leave and was still negotiating terms for armed Al Qathafi loyalists to surrender.

"We didn't really get into details and we didn't talk much about how they will leave but I think the scenario will be that they have to give up their weapons," Zayani said.

Asked about the prospect of a truce, another commander in the anti-Al Qathafi ranks, Omar Al-Qatrany, who is on the eastern front line, said: "Those people don't want to negotiate and we don't care about them any more. Our main concern is to evacuate families out of Sirte and then we will bomb the city."

Foe the second day, despite efforts to push forward from the east of the center of Sirte, anti-Al Qathafi fighters were pinned down by intense sniper and artillery fire, and a Reuters correspondent reported, that NTC forces brought up reinforcements to a roundabout two kilometres from the centre. In an effort to break through they attacked with two tanks and about a dozen trucks carrying infantry.

Later, Al-Jazeera reported that NTC fighters had taken control of the eastern portion of Sirte, which is 450 km east of Tripoli, and would bring Libya's new rulers closer to gaining control of the whole country, if they manage to capture it. It would certainly be a huge symbolic victory.

Libya's new rulers are under pressure to bring the fighting to an end. Humanitarian organisations have raised the alarm over conditions for civilians in Sirte and in Bani Walid, which lies southeast of Tripoli.

Scores of civilians in cars laden with personal belongings streamed out of Sirte to both the east and west over the past few days, with Georges Comninos, who heads the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Libya saying they were very concerned about the people inside and near Bani Walid and Sirte.