Pretoria - Libyan rebel troops are continuing their chase for Muammar Gaddafi after they captured his stronghold in Tripoli, while more and more outside forces are cheering them on.
Mustafa Abdel Jalil, head of the National Transitional Council (NTC), said Wednesday that Libyan rebels put a bounty of about $1.67 million on Gaddafi's head, dead or alive.
The rebel leader said that those who kill or catch Gaddafi will be pardoned for past crimes.
However, the whereabouts of the embattled Libyan leader are still unknown. NTC believes that Gaddafi might have hidden in the desert areas between Sirte and Sabah.
"We will track him down and catch him as soon as he appears," NTC military spokesman Colonel Ahmed Omar Bani said.
Libya's rebel troops on Wednesday took control of the Mazraq al-Shams army base in Libya's port city of Zuara, some 60 km from the Tunisian border.
In the capital of Tripoli, sporadic clashes were reported between Gaddafi's forces and rebel troops fighting to consolidate their grip on the capital.
Bani says Gaddafi has lost control of 95 percent of Libya, spelling an end to his rule.
But early on Wednesday, Gaddafi said his withdrawal from Bab al-Azizya was a "tactical move."
The defiant Libyan leader said the compound had been leveled to the ground by as many as 64 Nato airstrikes. Gaddafi vowed death or victory in his fight against the "aggression."
At the request of the United States, the UN Security Council met behind closed doors on Wednesday afternoon to discuss whether to unfreeze $1.5 billion in Libyan assets.
The United States has called a meeting to introduce a resolution that would unfreeze roughly $1.5 billion of Libyan assets to the NTC meet urgent humanitarian needs.
But this resolution faces opposition from countries like South Africa. South Africa has indicated its reluctance is based purely on the question over who the legitimate authority in Libya is at this time.
South Africa says the body has not been universally recognised as the legitimate authority in Libya.
A vote on the resolution by the UNSC is expected before the end of the week.
Meanwhile, African Union leaders will hold an emergency summit on Friday to catch up on the rapidly unfolding events in Libya.
