Laid out under a simple shelter their blood-drenched green uniforms stand out against the alabaster-white sand as stark evidence of their violent last moments.

Around a dozen solemn men gather around the bodies, yet none of the congregation are friends or loved ones, none are here to bid the men a fond final goodbye.

The dead are soldiers of Moamer Kadhafi's army, their corpses recovered from the battlefields that ring this besieged city.

The living are a band of bearded and robed volunteers determined to ensure their fellow Muslims are buried according to custom, no matter what side they chose in Libya's civil war.

For organiser Ali Drotiga these careful burials are a point of pride as well as religious devotion.

His every studied action is a direct response to mobile phone videos of rebel fighters who have been beheaded or had their corpses dumped by the roadside.

"They are Muslims, we must treat them like that," he says before turning back to the task at hand.

On a tilted wooden pallet Drotiga and other volunteers cut off the men's uniforms and carefully wash the bodies with water.

A small heap of perfumed talc is put on each man's forehead, nose, chin and on the corpse.

Gauze is put over their wounds and they are wrapped in pure white sheets tied together with three white cotton ribbons, at the feet, around the torso and at the head.

But before the sheets are pulled closed a photographer takes a portrait, and the men's belongings -- in one case just a few dinars and a red tipped bullet -- are put into a numbered bag.

After the war, Drotiga explains, the men's families will be able to come and find the remains of their loved ones.

The men are ready for their final journey.

Standing sideways to the dunes and the brilliant azure of the Mediterranean below, a young Imam stands before the bodies, faces Mecca and leads a prayer.

The bodies are taken out into a sand field where 12 rows of concrete contain more than 650 of their comrades.

Between the masonry blocks at the foot and head of each grave a finger has traced a number into the wet concrete, denoting those who could be identified thanks to papers, phone or ID cards.

As the second of the three men -- number 422 -- is lowered into a rough wooden coffin on his right side another truck arrives.

It is loaded with the bodies of three more Kadhafi soldiers.

UN Security Council resolution 1973 authorised the Atlantic Alliance in March to defend Libya's civilian population from attacks by Kadhafi's regime, which faces a popular revolt after 42 years in power.

The NATO mission that took off in early April is due to wrap up in September unless it is extended by participating states, including Britain, Canada, France, Italy and the United States, all of whom are under increasing fiscal pressure to pull back.

NATO's top Libya commander, Canada's Lieutenant General Charles Bouchard, told AFP Thursday: "The Kadhafi regime's forces continue to be weakened, both in strength and their will to fight."

"They are no longer able to launch a credible offensive," he added, expressing confidence that the conflict will be over before the mission's mandate runs out next month.

"Unified Protector", the codename for the operations in Libya, has suffered "from the start from an obvious lack of intelligence which led to unpleasant surprises", said Francois Heisbourg, special advisor to the Paris-based Foundation for Strategic Research think tank.

The allies, who carry out air strikes, "underestimated the ability of Kadhafi's forces to resist and overestimated the rebels' coherence and fighting abilities", he added.

NATO also "lost a lot of time making up for" the withdrawal, after only a few days, of US fighter aircraft.

Washington now provides logistical assistance, leaving mainly Paris and London in the line of fire -- a first for a NATO operation.

"Only a political solution will allow to put an end to the conflict," said Alvaro de Vasconcelos, director of the European Union Institute for Security Studies, who believes that Kadhafi will only fall if his aides turn against him.

"A military liberation of Tripoli would be very difficult," he said, given the rebels' divisions and chequered make-up.

Vasconcelos supported more diplomatic efforts to bring in the African Union and Arab League in view of a negotiated settlement.

"The participation of Qatar or the United Arab Emirates does not stop the NATO operation from being seen as an essentially Western initiative," Vasconcelos said.

The air strikes have also been criticised by Security Council members China, Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa who believe that they go beyond the UN mandate to protect civilians.

UN leader Ban Ki-moon on Thursday expressed alarm over the rising number of civilian casualties in the Libya conflict, including those inflicted in NATO air strikes.

Without specifically naming any side, Ban called on "all parties" to use "extreme caution" in the battle. Ban also stepped up calls for a political solution to the conflict.

Apart from the issue of legitimacy, the allies' budget problems are also becoming an issue.

Norway withdrew its final four F-16 fighter jets taking part in the NATO-led mission on August 1 and Italy has pulled out its aircraft carrier.

France followed suit and had its aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle return to Toulon, but said Paris would maintain operations in Libya.

NATO is adamant it has the resources to complete its mandate but there seems to be no doubt that if the conflict drags on further this will weigh on talks in September about a possible extension of the mission mandate.