Libya's new rulers said on Wednesday, September 28 they believed fugitive ex-leader Muammar Gaddafi was being shielded by nomadic tribesmen in the desert near the Algerian border, while his followers fend off assaults on his hometown.

Intense sniper and artillery fire from pro-Gaddafi fighters has so far prevented National Transitional Council (NTC) forces from taking Sirte despite more than two weeks of fighting and two full-on assaults.

One of the last two bastions of support for the ousted strongman, it has withstood a siege by NTC fighters hitting it with tank and rocket fire as well as NATO airstrikes.

The United Nations and international aid agencies are worried over conditions for civilians trapped inside.

More than a month since NTC fighters captured the capital Tripoli, Gaddafi remains defiantly on the run pledging to lead a campaign of armed resistance against the new leaders.

Gaddafi himself could be holed up near the western town of Ghadames -- near the Algerian border -- under the protection of Tuareg tribesmen, a senior NTC military official said.

In neighbouring Algeria, the government ordered members of Gaddafi's family in exile there to stay out of politics after Gaddafi's daughter Aisha angered the NTC by telling the media her father was still fighting to hold on to power.

Aisha Gaddafi and two of her brothers fled to Algeria in August. Another son fled to Niger. One son was reported killed in the conflict and three sons are at large, Reuters reported.