Libyan leaders fear Gaddafi may flee south across the border into Niger

Niger’s foreign minister warns that the country does not have the means to close the border Libya’s new leaders were urgently trying to stop Muammar Gaddafi fleeing south as neighbouring Niger said it would be impossible to close its border, and evidence emerged suggesting the fugitive dictator was last seen in the very southern-most part of Libya. As the National Transitional Council (NTC) announced it had sent a delegation to Niamey to discuss how to stop “any kind of infiltration” by Gaddafi or his family, Niger’s foreign minister said the former ruler had neither crossed nor asked to cross the border. However, a day after it emerged that Gaddafi’s personal security chief had been admitted to the country, Niger’s foreign minister Mohamed Bazoum told the BBC that it had not decided whether it would accept Gaddafi himself or hand him over to the International Criminal Court (ICC). “We have no means to close the border … It is too big and we have very, very small means for that,” he said. Fathi Baja, the head of political affairs for the NTC, said the group was determined to try to prevent the dictator fleeing to Niger or Algeria. “I think he’s near one of these borders … and he’s looking for a chance to leave. We’re asking every country not to accept him. We want these people for justice,” Baja told Reuters. The leader of the interim government’s manhunt, who said late on Tuesday that Gaddafi had last been seen three days before near the village of Ghwat, around 200 miles from the border with Niger. Hisham Buhagiar told Reuters: “We have it from many sources that he’s trying to go further south, towards Chad or Niger.” It was not possible to confirm whether this supported another claim made on Wednesdayby a spokesman for Tripoli’s new military council, according to which Libyan fighters had located Gaddafi at an undisclosed location in Libya and had surrounded him on all sides. Anis Sharif said authorities were waiting to decide whether to capture or kill him. “He can’t get out,” Sharif told the Associated Press, without giving any more detail of the presumed location. “We are just playing games with him.” In a signal of just how mired in contradiction and confusion the manhunt is, Libya’s new deputy defence minister Mohammad Tanaz said the NTC did not know where Gaddafi was. Finding him, he added, was not a “priority”. As fresh detail emerged of the convoys reported to have crossed the Niger-Libya border in recent days, the government in capital Niamey acknowledged that Gaddafi’s former aide Mansour Dhao had been allowed in to the country “for humanitarian reasons”. Bazoum said that at least three convoys had come in to Niger containing, he claimed, several pro-Gaddafi businessmen, as well as Agaly ag Alambo, a Tuareg rebel leader. There were fewer than 20 of them, he added, and they would be free to stay in Niger. The US said it believed senior Gaddafi regime figures had also crossed over the border, but not Gaddafi himself. In Ougadougou, Burkina Faso, president Blaise Compaoré denied reports it had offered asylum to the former Libyan despot. As the search for Gaddafi continued, lead rebel negotiator Abdullah Kanshil said his son Saif al-Islam had been spotted in the town of Bani Walid on Monday and was probably still there. “Saif was sighted two days ago,” he said on Wednesday in Boshtata, about 50km from the town. “He’s coming in and out.” Kanshil said that Bani Walid was made up of 52 villages, three of which were still occupied by pro-Gaddafi gunmen. It was also possible that Saif could be hiding in its numerous caves. Another “big fish” might also be in the town, Kanshil added. Pressed for details, he replied: “Another of the sons. The ugly one.” Peace talks appeared to break down on Tuesday. But Kanshil insisted: “There is a lot of progress today in the conference with the clan leaders in Bani Walid. They are safe and sound. A few people waved their guns and cursed at them [after talks yesterday] but the people of Bani Walid made they got home to their families.” Asked if would be necessary to take Bani Walid by force, Kanshil said: “No, we hope not. The people of Bani Walid are with the revolution. But there are 80 snipers there, that’s our worry. Some in caves, some on roofs of buildings, some walking in places.” Any decision on an attack rested with the National Transitional Council, he said. “They are the leadership.” Muammar Gaddafi Libya Niger Arab and Middle East unrest Lizzy Davies guardian.co.uk

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