Kadhafi son captured in Sirte: NTC

TRIPOLI: Mutassim Kadhafi, son of Libya's former leader, was arrested in his hometown of Sirte on Wednesday, the new National Transitional Council said.

"Mutassim Kadhafi was captured at Sirte and was transferred to Benghazi" in the country's east, NTC advisor Abdelkarim Bizama told AFP.

"We did not announce the capture earlier to avoid that (his family or aides) try to free him," he added.

However, a spokesman for the NTC's military council was unable to confirm that Kadhafi's son had been caught.

Kadhafi opponents fired shots in the air in the capital Tripoli and Misrata on Wednesday evening, after news of Mutassim's arrest broke.

Mutassim Kadhafi was born in 1975. A career soldier and doctor, he was appointed head of national security by his father in 2007. He had been considered a rival to his brother Seif al-Islam in the competition to succeed the Libyan leader.

NTC officials had said repeatedly they suspected he had fled to Sirte, one of two remaining Kadhafi strongholds.

Seif al-Islam is believed to be hiding in Bani Walid, an oasis 170 kilometres (105 miles) southeast of Tripoli, possibly with his father. (AFP)