Saturday, 27 August 2011
Colonel Qaddafi may have fled from Libya in a convoy of cars crossing the border into Algeria. The embattled leader in being hunted by the Libyan rebel council and NATO forces. (Photo by REUTERS)
Algeria’s Foreign Ministry denied on Saturday a report that a convoy of six Mercedes cars, suspected of carrying top figures of the ousted Libyan regime, had crossed its border from Libya.
Egypt’s state MENA news agency had quoted a source from the rebel Military Council in the border city of Ghadames as saying the convoy of armored cars crossed the frontier on Friday morning protected by the commander of a desert nomadic military unit that had operated under Muammar Qaddafi.
Egypt’s state MENA news agency had quoted a source from the rebel Military Council in the border city of Ghadames as saying the convoy of armored cars crossed the frontier on Friday morning protected by the commander of a desert nomadic military unit that had operated under Muammar Qaddafi.
A bounty of $1.7 million was issued for the capture of leader Muammar Qaddafi.
The agency quoted the source as saying that the convoy may have been transporting senior Libyan officials or even Qaddafi himself.
“This information (about the convoy entering Algeria) has no basis and we categorically deny it,” Algeria’s state APS news agency quoted a Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying.
Libya’s rebel leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil said on Saturday the National Transitional Council (NTC) has no concrete information on the location of Qaddafi
Rebel fighters who took control of the Libyan capital this week say Qaddafi and his sons are in hiding and have offered a $1.3 million reward and amnesty from prosecution for anyone who kills or captures him.
A spokesman for the rebel council dampened speculation that Qaddafi might be holed up in Sirte.
“He probably won’t be in Sirte because Sirte is landlocked from three sides and (there is) the sea from the other. There is no way for him to get away,” said the spokesman, Shamsiddin Abdulmolah.
“There is a possibility he is still in the Tripoli area. But if not he’s more likely to be near the Algerian border because Algeria has still not recognized the NTC.”
The rebel council is under pressure to establish its authority in Tripoli quickly and deal with a breakdown of public services that followed the collapse of Qaddafi’s rule.
Corpses are rotting outside hospitals, garbage is piled up in the streets, and many people have no water.
Asked when the NTC would move to the capital from its base in Benghazi, eastern Libya, Abdulmolah said: “Most of the executive committee is already over there now in Tripoli.
But he said the question of when Abdel Jalil, a former justice minister under Qaddafi, would transfer to Tripoli, would depend on security considerations.
“This information (about the convoy entering Algeria) has no basis and we categorically deny it,” Algeria’s state APS news agency quoted a Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying.
Libya’s rebel leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil said on Saturday the National Transitional Council (NTC) has no concrete information on the location of Qaddafi
Rebel fighters who took control of the Libyan capital this week say Qaddafi and his sons are in hiding and have offered a $1.3 million reward and amnesty from prosecution for anyone who kills or captures him.
A spokesman for the rebel council dampened speculation that Qaddafi might be holed up in Sirte.
“He probably won’t be in Sirte because Sirte is landlocked from three sides and (there is) the sea from the other. There is no way for him to get away,” said the spokesman, Shamsiddin Abdulmolah.
“There is a possibility he is still in the Tripoli area. But if not he’s more likely to be near the Algerian border because Algeria has still not recognized the NTC.”
The rebel council is under pressure to establish its authority in Tripoli quickly and deal with a breakdown of public services that followed the collapse of Qaddafi’s rule.
Corpses are rotting outside hospitals, garbage is piled up in the streets, and many people have no water.
Asked when the NTC would move to the capital from its base in Benghazi, eastern Libya, Abdulmolah said: “Most of the executive committee is already over there now in Tripoli.
But he said the question of when Abdel Jalil, a former justice minister under Qaddafi, would transfer to Tripoli, would depend on security considerations.
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