CAIRO, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Muammar Gaddafi's son Mutassim has fled the former leader's hometown of Sirte and was last heard of heading south, a Libyan government military spokesman told Al Jazeera television on Thursday.
"The last information we got about him (Mutassim) is that he left Sirte last Sunday," spokesman Ahmed Bani told the pan-Arab satellite news channel. "We arrested one of (Gaddafi's) mercenaries and he confirmed this."
Libyan government forces have tried for weeks to take Sirte from fighters loyal to Gaddafi but were still being held back by sniper fire on Thursday. (Reporting by Ahmed Tolba; Writing by Tom Pfeiffer)
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