African mercenaries roam in Sirte: witness

African mercenaries are launching revenge attacks inside Muammar Gaddafi's hometown Sirte, which is under assault by NTC forces, a resident who fled the city before dawn today told AFP.

The computer sciences university lecturer also said he twice saw over the past three weeks one of Gaddafi's sons, Mutassim, once inside a command centre in a hospital basement.

"There are African mercenaries roaming across the city. They are firing at houses with anti-aircraft guns in district one" on western edge of the city, he said by telephone, refusing to give his name for security reasons.

"I think they are taking revenge," added the man, stressing that almost 80 percent of Sirte's current population is originally from Misrata further west, a bastion of the rebellion against Gaddafi.

"All the buildings on the main street are damaged," said the man, adding that he fled Sirte at 5:30 am (0330 GMT).

Fighters from Libya's new ruling National Transitional Council have launched a major assault to seize Sirte, where diehards of the fallen regime are still holed up.

The lecturer said he saw Mutassim Gaddafi on two separate occasions, most recently a week ago when he showed up in his neighbourhood the morning after a fierce battle.

The fighting pitted Gaddafi loyalists against people mostly from Misrata, he said, and Mutassim arrived the next day seeking to make peace with them.

"He came to see our (community) leader. I was standing right next to him," he said.

He added that control centres for Gaddafi's forces are located in the basement of Sirte's main hospital, where he also saw Mutassim about three weeks ago.

The computer expert said he was called in by Gaddafi loyalists to fix a problem with their computer system. "He (Mutassim) is in the basement in the hospital," he said.

Front line fighters in Sirte have repeatedly said Mutassim is holed up in the city's southern outskirts.

"Mutassim is in there. We hear him on the radio giving orders," NTC operations commander Osama Muttawa Swehly told AFP.

Meanwhile yesterday's assault to seize Sirte was put on hold overnight, with fighting subsiding at around 7 pm, the lecturer said, adding that there were several NATO air strikes overnight.