Fighters for Libya’s new rulers were yesterday forced to regroup on the edge of Sirte, halted by pro-Gaddafi snipers in their two-week old assault on the ousted despot’s hometown.

And in Bani Walid, the only other stronghold of forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi, the National Transitional Council fighters appeared to have opened another front.

As the NTC forces faced stiff resistance on the battlefield, doubts grew that Col Gaddafi’s vocal spokesman Mussa Ibrahim had been captured after reports he had been seized while disguised as a woman, complete with veil.

AFP correspondents on fronts east and west of Sirte said that the former rebels had made no advances yesteday.

But in some of the fiercest fighting for days, the NTC fighters pounded Sirte with 106mm anti-tank guns, rocket-launchers and machineguns, while Col Gaddafi loyalists hit back with mortar, machinegun and sniper fire.