Kadhafi has shown the ability to still command and control "troop movements and weapons movements, and the deployment of these weapons, including the launch of surface-to-surface missiles and operating radars," said Colonel Roland Lavoie.

"Essentially, he is displaying a capability still to exercise some level of command and control," the NATO mission's military spokesman told a news briefing.

"The pro-Kadhafi troops that we see are not in total disarray, they are retreating in an orderly fashion, conceding ground and going to the second best position that they could hold to continue their warfare," he added.

French firm helped Kadhafi spy on opposition: report
Paris (AFP) Aug 30, 2011 - A subisidiary of French IT firm Bull helped Moamer Kadhafi's regime spy on the emails and chat messages of opponents of the fallen Libyan strongman, a report said Tuesday.

Amesys, which on its website describes itself as "a key player in the field of security and critical systems at national and international levels," installed a monitoring centre in Tripoli in 2009, the Wall Street Journal said.

The paper, quoting people familiar with the matter, said the firm equipped the centre with "deep packet inspection" technology to snoop on the online activities of Kadhafi's enemies.

The Libyan regime earlier this year held talks with Amesys and other firms, including Boeing's Narus unit, a maker of internet traffic-monitoring products, as they sought to boost the regime's surveillance apparatus, the Journal said.

Chinese telecom firm ZTE also provided technology for the monitoring operation, the report said.

Bull said it had no comment to make on the report when contacted by AFP.

Narus told the Wall Street journal: "There have been no sales or deployments of Narus technology in Libya," while ZTE declined to comment when approached by the daily.

The Journal said that its journalists had toured the surveillance centre and found files there that include emails written as recently as February, after the Libyan uprising kicked off.

"Zero hour is quickly approaching. We would like everyone to know that we are ready for a final military battle," he told a news conference in the rebel stronghold in the east.

"So far we have been given no indication of a peaceful surrender. We want everyone to know that we are prepared militarily for the battle that will end the conflict," Bani said.

Asked about possible rebel moves, he replied this was "military intelligence" and declined to elaborate.

"We continue to seek a peaceful solution, but on Saturday we will use different methods against these criminals," he said.

Earlier, National Transitional Council chief Mustafa Abdel Jalil told reporters in Benghazi that the NTC was giving a Saturday ultimatum for Moamer Kadhafi's forces to surrender or face a military onslaught.

"This window of opportunity will be closed at the end of Eid al-Fitr (Friday in Libya)," Abdel Jalil said, adding that talks were under way with officials in towns including Kadhafi's birthplace Sirte to arrange their peaceful surrender.

"From Saturday, if no peaceful solution is in sight on the ground, we will resort to military force," Abdel Jalil warned.

Bani expressed "surprise" that the inhabitants of Sirte "still reject our peaceful overtures to avoid the spilling of blood on both sides."

He also said that rebel fighters may have killed Kadhafi's intelligence chief, Abdullah al-Senussi, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court.

Rebel fighters had destroyed two armoured vehicles between the towns of Bani Walid and Tarhuna, southeast of Tripoli, and captured Kadhafi loyalists told them that one of the passengers was Senussi, Bani said.

The vehicles were destroyed by fire after the convoy refused to stop as rebel fighters demanded, he said, adding that Senussi has yet to be buried.

In June, the Hague-based court issued arrest warrants for Kadhafi, his son Seif al-Islam and Senussi for murder and persecution since mid-February, when a bloody uprising started.

Senussi is Kadhafi's brother-in-law.

Separately, Libyan state television denied in a message posted on the Internet on Tuesday that Khamis Kadhafi, a son of the strongman, was dead as claimed by the rebels.

"We repeat that information on the death of Khamis Kadhafi is a lie," the Allibya network, which is run by Seif al-Islam, reported on its Facebook page.

Late on Monday, opposition officials said that Khamis, 28, was killed south of Tripoli and buried on Monday, citing rebel leaders.

The death of Khamis, a feared military commander, has been prematurely announced several times during the Libyan conflict.