Libya troop convoy enters Niger

6 September 2011 Last updated at 06:12 ET

Anti-Gaddafi troops have recently made major advances

An armed convoy of vehicles from Libya has crossed into Niger, reports say.

The convoy – believed to be carrying mainly Tuareg fighters recruited by fugitive Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi to fight for his regime – rolled into the town of Agadez.

It is not clear whether any of the Gaddafi family were in the convoy. His spokesman said he was still in Libya.

Col Gaddafi has vowed to fight to the death, even though he has lost control of most of the country.

Nato, which has been carrying out air strikes in support of a UN mandate to protect Libyan civilians, has refused to comment on the reports.

‘In high spirits’

The armed convoy crossed the Niger border and arrived in Agadez late on Monday, military sources from France and Niger told Reuters news agency.

They said the convoy was made up of between 200 and 250 vehicles and was given an escort by the army of Niger.

Sources in Agadez have told the BBC that among the convoy of 200 vehicles, 60 are Libyan and the rest from Niger.

Later, an official from the Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) told that a convoy carrying gold and cash had crossed into Niger from the Gaddafi-held town of Jufra.

“Late last night [Monday], 10 vehicles carrying gold, euros and dollars crossed from Jufra into Niger with the help of Tuaregs from the Niger tribe,” Fathi Baja said.

These claims have not been independently verified.

The BBC’s Kevin Connolly, in the Libyan capital Tripoli, says there is speculation that the convoy could be carrying members of Col Gaddafi’s entourage, as the desert route is the likeliest way for them to escape troops belonging to the anti-Gaddafi transitional authorities.

The landlocked West African state of Burkina Faso, which shares a border with Niger, has offered Col Gaddafi asylum.

Col Gaddafi’s wife, two of his sons and his daughter have already fled to Algeria.

The BBC’s Jon Leyne, in Benghazi, the seat of the transitional authorities, says such a large convoy could not have crossed the desert without Nato turning a blind eye.

Nato does not comment on intelligence matters, a spokesman told the BBC.

Col Roland Lavoie said the alliance’s mission was to protect civilians, not to track “fleeing former regime leaders, mercenaries, military commanders and internally displaced people”.

As the former rebels consolidate their hold over the country, Nato has continued to carry out air strikes and surveillance flights, as mandated by UN resolutions to protect civilians in Libya.

Earlier on Monday, Col Gaddafi’s spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said that the Libyan leader was “in very high spirits”.

“He is in a place that will not be reached by those fractious groups, and he is in Libya,” Mr Ibrahim told Syrian-based Arrai TV.

Fears of revenge

Libyan rebels from the National Transitional Council (NTC) have now moved into position near Bani Walid, 150km (95 miles) south-east of Tripoli.

Bani Walid is one of four towns and cities still controlled by Gaddafi supporters. The others are Jufra, Sabha and Col Gaddafi’s birthplace in Sirte.

Senior members of the anti-Gaddafi forces surrounding the town say the negotiations have now stopped – and were never serious because pro-Gaddafi forces continued to fire while the talks were going on.

However, NTC leader Mustafa Abdul Jalil said the talks would continue until a deadline on Saturday.

As well as being a Gaddafi stronghold, Bani Walid is also the home of the biggest and most powerful Libyan tribe, the Warfalla.

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