Libya troop convoy reaches Niger

6 September 2011 Last updated at 02:29 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.

‘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.

However, a local resident was quoted by the Associated Press news agency as saying that convoy consisted of more than a dozen trucks carrying well-armed Libyan troops.

He added that the Libyans were also accompanied by well-armed Tuareg tribal fighters.

The claims by both the military sources and the Niger resident 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.

A French military source told Reuters that Col Gaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam had considered joining the convoy.

France played a leading role in the Nato campaign in Libya, and such a large convoy could not have moved with the knowledge of Nato, Reuters says.

Separately, Col Gaddafi’s chief of security, Mansour Daw, is reported to have crossed into Niger.

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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