In Libya, reports say differences have emerged within Col. Gaddafi’s forces as one of his sons claimed to be in talks with the rebels on ending the bloodshed. Saadi Gaddafi, the third son of Gaddaffi, told al-Arabiya TV that he had talked on the phone with Abdel Hakim Belhadj, a member of the Libyan National Transitional Council in Tripoli.

Saadi said, he was authorized by his father to contact the rebels, and that Gaddaffi’s government acknowledges that the NTC represents a legal party.

Earlier, Abdel Hakim Belhadj told Al Jazeera that Saadi, had contacted him offering to surrender. He said, the rebels guaranteed Saadi fair treatment if he surrendered. In another development the rebels have said that they have arrested the Libyan foreign minister Abdelati al-Obeidi, a key figure in Muammar Gaddafi’ government.

Meanwhile, in an audio tape broadcast on a Syrian TV channel, Saif al-Islam, the second son of Gaddafi has urged Gaddafi’s loyalists to continue resistance against the rebels. He said he was staying in a suburb of Tripoli and the resistance would continue. He claimed that there are more than 20,000 armed youths in Sirte, Gaddafi’s hometown.