DEATH TOLL FROM LIBYAN CIVIL WAR HAS REACHED 20,000, SAYS REBEL LEADER

BENGHAZI, LIBYA  (NNN-XINHUA) -- More than 20,000 people have been killed in Libya since the civil conflict started in February in the North African country, says rebel leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil.

Speaking at a press conference in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi Thursday, Abdel Jalil, who is the head of the Libyan Transitional National Council (NTC), said he did not have the exact figures but he believed the conflict had cost more than 20,000 lives so far.

He said the rebels now had large amounts of oil, gas, food and medicine stockpiles as they had captured the majority of Libya.

Oil and gas resources found in Zawiyah city, about 40 km west of the capital, Tripoli, are enough to supply the whole of Libya for several months, while food found in a storage in Tripoli is enough to support the capital for a whole year, he added.

Jalil said the rebels were holding talks with tribal leaders in Sirte, the hometown of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, in search of a peaceful "revolution" of the city.

He also noted that "the NTC welcomes any direct or indirect negotiations with any group or country for an early national liberation".

The NTC is preparing to move its headquarters from here to Tripoli. -- NNN-XINHUA