JNN 29 Aug 2011 : Libyan Transitional National Council (TNC) chief Mustafa Abdel Jalil says fugitive ruler Muammar Gaddafi is still a threat while opposition forces are on the outskirts of Gaddafi’s hometown.

The TNC head also on Monday called for continued international support at a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Doha, Qatar.

“I call for continued protection from NATO and its allies from this tyrant,” Abdel Jalil was quoted as saying by Reuters.

“He [Gaddafi] is still a threat, not just for Libyans but for the entire world,” he added.

Meanwhile, opposition fighters have closed in on Gaddafi’s hometown of Sirte from east and west in the final battle for full control of the country.

The fighters defeated Gaddafi’s forces in Tripoli and seized his headquarters in Bab al-Aziziyah last week.

The fugitive ruler’s whereabouts are still unknown, but there is widespread speculation that he is holed up among tribal supporters in Sirte.

Evidence has emerged of numerous killings since the fall of the Libyan dictator.

Dozens of bodies, some from Gaddafi’s troops and others of detainees held by the ousted government, have been discovered in the capital.

Human Rights Watch said on Monday a military unit commanded by one of Gaddafi’s sons appeared to have been responsible for the summary execution of dozens of detainees in a warehouse near Tripoli last week.

The explosions were heard before 01:00 a.m. (2300 GMT Sunday), AFP reported on Monday.

In the capital, clashes between opposition fighters and troops loyal to fugitive ruler Muammar Gaddafi have largely ended, but a few isolated pro-Gaddafi forces came out sporadically.

Opposition fighters said earlier that they took control of the eastern town of Ben Jawad, which marks the border with Gaddafi’s hometown, Sirte, which is located 360 kilometers east of Tripoli.

“We took Bin Jawad today on the eastern front,” opposition commander in Misratah Mohammed al-Fortiya said.

Gaddafi’s chief spokesman Moussa Ibrahim announced that Gaddafi is still in the country.

The ruler’s whereabouts are still unknown after the opposition took his main compound of Bab al-Azizayah last week, but there is widespread speculation that he is holed up among tribal supporters in Sirte.

“We are negotiating with the tribes for Sirte’s peaceful surrender,” Fortiya said, adding that only tribal leaders were involved, and that to his knowledge no direct contact had been made with Gaddafi himself.

Meanwhile, opposition forces on Sunday rejected an offer by Gaddafi to negotiate with the regime.

“I would like to state very clearly, we don’t recognize them. We are looking at them as criminals. We are going to arrest them very soon,” Mahmoud Shammam, the Libyan opposition’s minister of information, said.