Libya's new leaders tell fighters from provinces to return home

Libya's new leaders are preparing to move next week their headquarters to Tripoli from their wartime base of Benghazi.

Reuters/Louafi Larbi

They have instructed fighters from the provinces to return home, to ease life for local residents in the capital, which suffered heavily in the final days of Moamer Kadhafi's regime.

The National Transitional Council has also extended until next weekend an ultimatum for the surrender of remaining Kadhafi loyalists.

And troops have moved towards Bani Walid, a desert town southeast of the capital, where they suspect Kadhafi might have taken refuge.

It is still unclear where the former Libyan leader is hiding, or from where he threatened to lead a protracted insurgency in audio tapes which were aired on Arab media on Thursday.

Meanwhile, UN chief Ban Ki Moon says the United Nations is ready to assist in re imposing security in Libya, after the seven months of upheaval which led to the ousting of Kadafi.