Libya's rebel government will not negotiate with Muammar Gaddafi unless he surrenders, a top National Transitional Council official told Reuters on Sunday, adding rebel authorities did not know Gaddafi's whereabouts.

'No negotiation is taking place with Gaddafi,' said Ali Tarhouni, the rebel official in charge of oil and financial matters. 'If he wants to surrender, then we will negotiate and we will capture him.'

The Associated Press reported earlier that Gaddafi's spokesman, Moussa Ibrahim, had said Gaddafi had offered to negotiate to form a transitional government with the rebels and that Gaddafi was still in Libya.-Reuters