US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta — speaking at a meeting of NATO defense ministers dedicated mainly to Afghanistan and Libya — said a decision to cease bombing will depend on events in the coastal town of Sirte where forces loyal to Muammar Qaddafi remain in control, whether Qaddafi’s forces continue to threaten civilians, and whether the former strongman retains a command role.

Panetta said the ministers agreed that the decision to cease operations would also depend on the ability of the anti-Qaddafi forces to confront armed resistance.

French Defense Minister Gerard Longuet also underlined that the airstrikes will not cease until all remaining pockets of resistance are suppressed and the new government asks for them to end. “Sirte has an extremely symbolic value, but it’s not all of Libya,” Longuet said as he arrived for the second and final day of the conference. “There is pro-Qaddafi resistance in Bani Walid and dispersed resistance in the south of the country.”

Other officials echoed their words, leaving open the possibility that the bombing could be extended for a further 3-month period if pro-Qaddafi forces continue fighting.

Qaddafi’s son Mutassim has fled Sirte and was last heard of heading south, a Libyan government military spokesman told Al Jazeera television on Thursday.

“The last information we got about him (Mutassim) is that he left Sirte last Sunday,” spokesman Ahmed Bani told the pan-Arab satellite news channel. “We arrested one of (Qaddafi’s) mercenaries and he confirmed this.”

Qaddafi called on Libyans to take to the streets and wage a campaign of civil disobedience against the country’s new leaders Thursday — the first word from the fugitive leader in just over two weeks. Qaddafi said the National Transitional Council (NTC) has no legitimacy because it was not nominated or appointed by the people.

He called on his countrymen to “go out in new million-man marches in all cities and villages and oases.” “Be courageous, rise up, go out in the streets,” he said. “Raise the green flag in the skies ... the conditions in Libya are unbearable.”

Qaddafi said leaders of the developing world who recognized the NTC would suffer a similar fate. “If the power of (international) fleets give legitimacy, then let the rulers in the Third World be ready,” he said in an apparent reference to NATO’s military support for NTC forces.

Qaddafi spoke in a poor quality audio recording and it was not possible to verify his identity, but it was broadcast on Syrian-based Al-Rai TV, which has become the mouthpiece of his resistance.

The international Red Cross delivered baby milk, diapers and other humanitarian aid to civilians in the besieged city on Thursday, seeking to ease shortages amid rapidly deteriorating conditions.

Dibeh Fakhr, a spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross, said two trucks entered Sirte and handed over the goods, which also included medical supplies, hygiene kits and clean drinking water, to representatives of families remaining in the Mediterranean coastal city. It was the ICRC’s third successful delivery since Saturday, she said.

Hundreds of families have been streaming out of the city to escape the violence. Thousands have set up camp outside if Sirte, raising concerns about a possible humanitarian crisis.

“Sirte is becoming a ghost town,” said resident Salim Omar as he passed a checkpoint manned by revolutionary forces on the city’s western outskirts.