Libya's rebels said today their war against Muammar Gaddafi regime had entered a "decisive phase" and that victory was within reach by the end of August.

Their claim came after Washington said the "days are numbered" for Gaddafi's regime.

As the chorus grew, fighting raged across Libya, with the rebels denying they were in talks with a defiant Gaddafi, who himself predicted swift victory against both the rebels and their NATO allies.

Mansur Saif al-Nasr, the rebel National Transitional Council's envoy to Paris, said "our forces totally control Zawiyah (west of the capital), which will open the way to Tripoli. This will allow the population there to revolt."

"We are entering a decisive phase. Soon we will liberate all of southern Libya. We hope to celebrate the final victory at the same time as the end of (Muslim holy month of) Ramadan" at the end of August, he told RFI radio.

"The population inside Tripoli is preparing for the uprising," Nasr said. "A few weeks ago, Gaddafi's forces put down the revolt because they had air power and tanks, and our forces were not at the gates of Tripoli.

"Today, they have no more air power, no tanks and our forces are at the entry of Tripoli."

The United States expressed optimism that the rebels were closing in on Gaddafi, who has ruled for more than 40 years, with White House spokesman Jay Carney saying the increasingly isolated strongman's "days are numbered."

Zawiyah is a vital oil port on Libya's Mediterranean coast, 40 kilometres (25 miles) west of Tripoli.

Rebels claimed yesterday to control "most" of the town, but Gaddafi forces continued to bombard the area with Grad rockets, prompting a heavy artillery exchange.

Funerals were being held today, a day after 23 people were killed in the town, according to rebels.

In an update on its operations, NATO said its warplanes hit tanks and an armed vehicle near Zawiyah on Monday.

NATO spokesman Colonel Roland Lavoie also condemned the launch of a Scud missile by Gaddafi's forces as "desperate" and "irresponsible."

The missile was fired from some 80 kilometres (50 miles) south of the Gaddafi-loyal stronghold of Syrte, the Canadian officer said.

It landed about five kilometres east of rebel-held territory near Brega, in "an area currently under the control of anti-Gaddafi forces," but did not cause any casualties.

He labelled the missile "a weapon of terror," and said its use "against an urban or industrial area is utterly irresponsible."

However, in contrast to the US assessment, while Lavoie said forces loyal to Gaddafi were retreating "often hurriedly," he also acknowledged that NATO's Libya mission remains "far from over."

A defiant Gaddafi denied widespread rumours he had fled the country and predicted victory.

"The end of the coloniser (NATO) is close and the end of the rats is close. They (the rebels) flee from one house to another before the masses who are chasing them," Gaddafi declared in an audio message on Libyan television.

He called on his supporters to "prepare for the battle to liberate" the rest of the country.

The regime has denied it is in danger, insisting that its forces can retake towns and districts captured by the rebels in past days.

The rebels also claimed they had wrested control of the town of Sorman, 60 kilometres west of Tripoli, and Garyan, 50 kilometres to the south.

Abdulsalam Othman, a rebel spokesman, said on Monday that both towns were in rebel hands, as well as the 15-kilometre stretch of road linking Sorman to Zawiyah, which he said cut Tripoli's supply lines from Tunisia.

Gaddafi spokesman Mussa Ibrahim denied the claims, saying regime forces were in "total control" of Zawiyah, and that the insurgent presence was "very weak."

Ibrahim said government forces had already retaken Sorman and would "soon retake Garyan."

He also said government forces had repulsed a major rebel attack coordinated with NATO on Tiji, in the Nafusa Mountains south of Tripoli, and that 40 prisoners had been taken.

On the eastern front, rebels said they suffered losses battling loyalist forces around oil installations on Monday in the town of Brega.

"Since yesterday (Monday), we have had 15 victims on the Brega front," spokesman Mohammed Zawiwa said in Benghazi, adding the fighting is continuing in one of the town's residential areas.

After a week of house-to-house combat, Brega was like a ghost town.

Under the shade of trees lay the bombed-out carcass of a rocket-launching battery, its tubes still aimed at the old rebel lines. In an alleyway were the remains of a destroyed loyalist vehicle.

Meanwhile, rebels denied suggestions they had held talks in Tunisia with representatives of the Gaddafi regime.

On Monday, sources close to the Tunisian security services reported talks had taken place on the island of Djerba, near the Libyan border.

"There are no negotiations or talks between the Gaddafi regime and the NTC in Tunisia or anywhere else," NTC Vice Chairman Abdel Hafiz Ghoga said.

Nasr, asked whether the NTC had sent envoys to Djerba to meet United Nations envoy Abdul Ilah al-Khatib, who arrived in Tunisia on Monday, Nasr said: "The NTC has sent no one."

The "policy of the NTC is not to negotiate with the Gaddafi regime," he insisted.

"What I can tell you is that independent Libyan political figures who are not on the government side and who are not members of the NTC have met Mr al-Khatib, but they do not represent the NTC."

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.