Forces of Libya's interim ruler, the National Transition Council, are searching Terhouna city, 90 kilometres southeast of Tripoli, for the youngest son of former leader Moammar Gadhafi and head of an elite brigade from the fallen regime.

NTC defence ministry officials said Khamis will be arrested soon, according to Xinhua.

It was Saif al-Islam, another Gadhafi son captured on Saturday in the southern Libyan town of Sebha, who claimed that Khamis is still alive and hiding in Libya. Saif's confession to interrogators also led to the arrest Sunday of former Libyan intelligence chief and Gaddafi's right-hand man Abdullah al-Senussi.

The NTC had twice announced that Khamis was killed in battle with rebels. On announcement by NTC fighters was on Aug. 29. This was confirmed later by a pro-Gadhafi Syrian TV station.

Khamis, 28, is the fifth son of Gadhafi from his second wife Safia Farkash and former commander of the Khamis Brigade, the best trained and equipped military unit when his father was still in power. The brigade was feared for allegedly murdering and persecuting civilians.

On Sept. 3, rebel military spokesman Ahmed Omar Bani said Khamis died alongside Mohammed al-Senussi, son of the country's feared intelligence chief, and that he was buried in Bani Walid. Sources in Bani Walid and Khamis captured bodyguards corroborated Bani's claims.

After Khamis graduated from the Frunze Military Academy in Moscow, he set up the brigade composed of Gadhafi loyalists. The brigade reported figured in quelling uprising in the cities of Benghazi, Zawiya and Misrata that killed many civilians.