Rebels to move key ministries to Tripoli

Rebel leaders said Wednesday they plan to move key ministries to Tripoli as Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi called on Libyans to "eliminate the criminals. Rebel leaders claimed they control about 90 percent of the country and were close to a "new Libya," but Gadhafi forces still control some areas, including the Rixos Hotel, where international journalists are trapped, CNN reported. Rebels fully controlled Tripoli International Airport but struggled to claim an area east of it. The resistance caused them to consider Gadhafi loyalists may be guarding a high-profile figure, CNN reported. Gadhafi, in an audio message that could not be authenticated, called on Libyans "to clear the city of Tripoli and eliminate the criminals, traitors and rats." "They are hiding between the families and inside the civilian houses," the message said. "It's your duty to enter these houses and take them out." Besides deaths among rebel and government forces, civilians have been wounded, "which is quite a concern for us," said Robin Waudo, spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Tripoli. He said he could not release a casualty toll. Also, some health workers in Tripoli were staying away from work because of the security situation, Waudo said. On Tuesday, several reporters inside the hotel reported bullets fired into hotel windows. By Wednesday morning, armed guards who had been in the hotel's lobby had essentially left the lobby, but journalists couldn't leave the hotel. Reporters posted messages on their Twitter accounts that they had to seek shelter as fighting erupted outside of the hotel. Meanwhile, rebels celebrated their capture of Gadhafi's compound, Bab al-Aziziya, Tuesday by shooting fireworks and firing guns into the air. Rebels said they had captured some of Gadhafi's troops inside the compound. Repeated NATO airstrikes in recent weeks damaged the compound. Rebels didn't find Gadhafi or any of his family members at Bab al-Aziziya. Rebel leaders also spent Wednesday explaining why they had reported Saif Gadhafi's capture earlier after he had appeared on Libyan television, mocking them, The New York Times reported. Rebel leaders said there was a misunderstanding during their discussions with the International Criminal Court, which has issued arrest warrants for Saif Gadhafi and his father, along with the regimes intelligence minister, alleging the trio committed crimes against humanity. Rebel officials and others close to Gadhafi said Tuesday they believed the leader hasn't strayed far from Tripoli. "We believe that he is either in Tripoli or close to Tripoli," Guma el-Gamaty, a spokesman for the rebels leadership, told the BBC. "Sooner or later he will be found alive and arrested -- and hopefully that is the best outcome we want -- or if he resists, he will be killed." Mahmoud Shammam, information minister for the rebel National Transitional Council, said Tuesday Gadhafi's whereabouts didn't matter because "in a few hours, maximum a few days, we have a new Libya, a new, liberated Libya." A growing number of foreign countries are recognizing the rebels' National Transitional Council as Libya's rightful government and have announced they would unfreeze seized Gadhafi assets, CNN said. However Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said he only would recognize a Libyan regime led by his ally, Gadhafi. Shammam said release of money frozen in international banks is critical to the rebels' success. "We need to provide ourselves with a lot of necessities and we cannot do this without money," he said. The French government said President Nicolas Sarkozy would meet rebel prime minister Mahmoud Jibril Wednesday in Paris, the Times reported. Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, whose country opposed the NATO airstrike effort, was reported as calling for negotiations because Gadhafi retained influence and power. NATO officials said the alliance's warplanes, which have been helping the rebels under a U.N. resolution, were flying reconnaissance and other missions over Libya. "Our mission is not over yet," said NATO spokesman Col. Roland Lavoie. He urged Gadhafi forces to return to their barracks because "until this is the case we will carry on with our mission. The situation in Tripoli is still very serious and very dangerous."