As rebel forces consolidated their control over Tripoli amid signs of disorganization within the ranks, the manhunt for Col. Moammar Gadhafi continued Monday.

Opposition leaders said their fighters had taken control of 95 percent of Tripoli, the capital, and U.S. President Barack Obama said it was clear that "the Gadhafi regime is coming to an end."

But a crucial question remained unanswered: Where is Gadhafi, who hasn't been seen in public for weeks, limiting his communications to audio messages. The last of those was Sunday, when Gadhafi, 69, urged Libyans to take up arms against the rebel "rats."

U.S. officials told NBC News that the U.S. believed Gadhafi hadn't fled the country, unlike other senior figures. U.S. intelligence agencies believe he was most likely hiding somewhere in the Tripoli area, a senior official at the Defense Department said Monday.

Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., chairman of the Intelligence Committee, agreed, saying in an interview with MSNBC TV, "I believe he is in a bunker or a secure situation in Tripoli."

That would mesh with reports from the Arabic news services Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya that Gadhafi successfully resisted an attempt to arrest him overnight at or near Tajura Cardiac Hospital in Tripoli. Al-Arabiya reported that rumors were spreading widely that Gadhafi was in the hospital itself.

Three of Gadhafi's sons — Saif, Mohammed and, most recently, according to reports, Saadi — were captured by the rebels, but Al Jazeera reported that Mohammed Gadhafi managed to escape Monday.

NATO, meanwhile, promised to maintain its air campaign until all pro-Gadhafi forces surrendered or returned to their barracks. Al Arabiya, citing rebel sources, reported late Monday that NATO was bombing Gadhafi's main Bab al-Aziziya compound in Tripoli.

NATO warplanes have hit at least 40 targets in and around Tripoli in the last two days — the highest number on a single geographic location since the bombing started more than five months ago, the alliance said.

NATO said loyalist forces responded Monday by firing three Scud-type missiles from Gadhafi's home city, Sirte, toward Misrata. Initial reports showed that the rockets landed most likely at sea or on the shore, NATO told Reuters, saying it wasn't aware of any casualties or damage.
Video: Libyan rebels control ‘almost all of Tripoli’ (on this page)

The U.S., which is part of the NATO campaign, will continue flying Predator drone missions — some of them armed — over Libya, the Defense Department official told NBC News. But for now, the Obama administration's policy that there would be no "U.S. boots on the ground" remains in effect, the official said.

Where could he go?
A variety of sources reported that Gadhafi was headed to any of several countries — among them Venezuela, Russia, Cuba, Angola, Zimbabwe, Algeria, South Africa and Tunisia — but U.S. officials said they had no confirmation that he had even been extended an invitation by any country.

South African Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said Monday that his country wasn't helping Gadhafi leave and that it wouldn't offer him asylum. Algeria's foreign minister denied that Gadhafi was in his country. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a strong supporter, is reported to be seriously ill and unlikely to be able to guarantee protection.
Video: Gadhafi rule crumbles as rebels surge (on this page)

Until Gadhafi is accounted for, the rebels could not say that they had reached "the real moment of victory," Mustafa Abdel-Jalil, head of the opposition's National Transitional Council, said at a news conference from the council's headquarters in Benghazi.

Mahmud Nacua, a diplomatic representative for the rebels, said opposition fighters would "turn over every stone to find him, to arrest him and to put him in the court."

Obama urges peaceful transition
Speaking on tape from Martha's Vineyard, Mass., where he has been monitoring developments while on vacation, Obama noted that Gadhafi was still at large and that fighting was continuing amid a "fluid and uncertain" atmosphere in Tripoli and other major parts of Libya. But "the situation in Libya has reached a tipping point," he said, and the U.S. stands ready to help opposition leaders rebuild the country.

"This much is clear: The Gadhafi regime is coming to an end," Obama said, "The future of Libya is in the hands of its people."

Repeating comments he made in a written statement Sunday night, Obama said the U.S. recognized the National Transitional Council as the government of Libya and would be its "friend and partner."

Obama made a point of calling on the opposition "to take steps to ensure a peaceful transition" and said "the rights of all Libyans must be respected." The comments came as Abdel-Jalil, the rebels' leader, warned that some opposition forces were breaking off on their own and ignoring the chain of command.

Abdel-Jalil expressed deep frustration with indiscipline within the rebel movement, warning that some fighters' refusal to observe the chain of command "might be the reason or the cause of my resignation."
Source:msnbc