But in the other main redoubt of Bani Walid, Muammar Qaddafi’s forces went on the offensive after the fugitive ex-strongman broadcast a message rallying resistance to a weeks-long siege by National Transitional Council forces.

Meanwhile, a member of the NTC said formation of a transitional government, already delayed by squabbling over power-sharing, has been postponed until the entire country is liberated.

Revolutionary forces on Tuesday battled their way into the eastern outskirts of Sirte, commanders said, in a bid to link up with anti-Qaddafi fighters besieging the city from the west and seize control of the loyalist stronghold.

Revolutionary forces have staked out positions to the west and south of the city, and commanders said anti-Qaddafi forces advancing on Sirte from the east also pushed into the city’s outskirts Tuesday.

Abdel-Basit Haroun, a rebel field commander, said his fighters reached a roundabout less than 10 km east of the city center. He said the plan was for the forces from the east and west to meet inside Sirte.

“We are almost there, but the hard phase of the takeover has just begun,” Haroun said. “We stopped using heavy weapons because the residential areas are packed with families, children and women. We are also facing snipers all over the rooftops of tall buildings.”

Haroun said foggy weather was also not helping the battle.

He said his forces had installed checkpoints around Sirte to arrest any Qaddafi troops who try to slip out of the city alongside crowds of fleeing civilians.

A revolutionary brigade commander on the city’s western front, Al-Tohami Abu Zayan, said anti-Qaddafi forces can take Sirte “whenever we choose,” but are holding back to protect civilians. He said fighters are in touch with civilians inside and working to secure a way out for them.

NATO said on Tuesday that about 200,000 Libyan civilians are still threatened by forces loyal to the country’s former regime, primarily in the cities of Sirte and Bani Walid.

“Remaining Qaddafi forces refuse to recognize their defeat,” said NATO spokesman Col. Roland Lavoie. “As a last resort, they are hiding in civilian areas.”

Lavoie told a news conference Tuesday in Naples, Italy, that drinking water, food, electricity, medicine and fuel were in short supply in those cities, putting the population under pressure.

In Algeria, where Qaddafi’s wife, daughter and two of his sons fled last month, a Foreign Ministry official said Algerian authorities have threatened the Qaddafis with expulsion if they make comments to the media.

The warning comes days after recorded comments by Qaddafi’s daughter, Aisha, were broadcast on Syrian-based TV. An Algerian newspaper report also alleged some of the deposed Libyan leader’s relatives had flown to Egypt.