As insurgent leaders moved into Tripoli to begin a political transition, the African Union called for that process to be "inclusive," while the UN human rights chief warned against assassinating Kadhafi, whose whereabouts are unknown and who has a $1.7 million rebel price on his head.[break]
"At around midnight, a formation of Tornado GR4s... fired a salvo of Storm Shadow precision-guided missiles against a large headquarters bunker in Kadhafi´s home town of Sirte," the defence ministry said in London.
Speculation that Kadhafi might have found refuge in the town, which lies 360 kilometres (225 miles) east of Tripoli, has not been confirmed.
NATO said on Friday that its planes had hit 29 armed vehicles and a "command and control node" in the vicinity of Sirte.
On Thursday, the National Transitional Council (NTC) moved many of its top people from their Benghazi base, just days after rebel fighters overran Tripoli, going on to capture Kadhafi´s headquarters and vast swathes of the capital.
Ali Tarhuni, a NTC official, said their leader, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, would arrive as soon as the security situation permitted.
"I declare the beginning and assumption of the executive committee´s work in Tripoli," Tarhuni, the executive committee´s vice chairman and minister of oil and economics, said.
"Long live democratic and constitutional Libya and glory to our martyrs," he said, announcing the holders of key posts in a new provisional government.
He called on forces loyal to Kadhafi to lay down their arms, and promised they would be treated lawfully.
"Put your weapons down and go home. We will not take revenge. Between us and between you is the law. I promise you will be safe."
In Geneva, the UN human rights chief warned against bounty hunters who may be seeking to kill Kadhafi, saying assassinations are "not within the rule of law."
"That applies to Kadhafi as well as everybody else," said spokesman Rupert Colville in a response to a question about the reward for Khadafi, dead or alive.
Colville said the "best solution" would be to capture Kadhafi alive and follow through on an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant for crimes against humanity.
He also called on "all people in positions of authority, including field commanders in Libya, to take action to ensure that no crimes or acts of revenge are committed."
In that vein, a senior African Union official said that with the conflict about to end, the body should support efforts for an inclusive transition in Libya.
"Now more than ever, we have to make efforts to ensure an inclusive and consensual transition to lead us to elections that will allow the Libyan people to freely choose their leaders," AU Commission chief Jean Ping said at the start of a meeting in Addis Ababa.
On Thursday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on the rebels to guard weapons stockpiles and take a hard line against "extremism."
"There can be no place in the new Libya for revenge attacks and reprisals ... Libya´s future will be peaceful only if the leaders and people of Libya reach out to each other in a spirit of peace."
She pledged support for the "new Libya," urging the triumphant rebels to turn the page on Kadhafi´s rule and build a secure, democratic state.
With fighting continuing in a conflict that the NTC chief says has killed more than 20,000 people, the horror of the situation was highlighted on Friday at a hospital in Tripoli.
Eighty putrefying corpses were found of people, apparently patients who had died for lack of treatment because doctors had fled for fear of the pro-Kadhafi snipers in the neighborhood.
The whereabouts of Kadhafi remain unknown despite an intensive search by rebel forces, and on Thursday he broadcast a new audio message calling on the populace to take up arms.
"We must resist these enemy rats, who will be defeated thanks to the armed struggle," he said.
The rebels are intent on finding Kadhafi so they can proclaim final victory in an uprising that began six months ago and was all but crushed by government forces before NATO warplanes gave crucial air support.
They say they want to put Kadhafi on trial, regardless of the ICC charges against him, his son Seif al-Islam and spy master Abdullah al-Senussi.
As the rebels worked to consolidate their gains politically, there were still desperately in need of funding.
NTC number two Mahmud Jibril said in Istanbul Friday that it was essential that the West release all of Libya´s frozen assets.
"There will be high expectations after the collapse of the regime. The frozen assets must be released for the success of the new government to be established after the Kadhafi regime," he told a press conference.
"Salaries of civil servants need to be paid. The life needs to continue on its normal course," Jibril said, a day after senior diplomats of the Libya Contact Group met in Istanbul and agreed to speed up release of some $2.5 billion in frozen Libyan assets by the middle of next week.
At the same time, the UN Security Council released $1.5 billion of seized Libyan assets to be used for emergency aid.
"The money will be moving within days," a US diplomat said.
Washington said Thursday the money would pay for UN programmes, energy bills, health, education and food, and would not be used for any "military purposes."
Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said Rome would release next week 350 million euros ($504 million) frozen in Italian banks.
Meanwhile, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton warned that funds being released should not end up in the hands of Kadhafi loyalists.
And a boat carrying aid supplies and 50 humanitarian workers is leaving for Tripoli Friday to evacuate more migrants, the International Organisation for Migration said.
On Thursday, the agency managed to evacuate 263 migrants from Tripoli on a first ship, despite fighting in the area.
Bangladeshis, Chinese, Filipinos, Indians and Egyptians are expected to be among evacuees in the second operation.
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