A large convoy of civilian and military vehicles from Libya crossed into Niger, but officials denied yesterday that toppled Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi was aboard.
The convoy entered the Sahelian country late on Monday and drove through the city of Agadez, a stronghold of the former Tuareg rebellion Qaddafi once supported, a local military source said on condition of anonymity.
“I saw an exceptionally large and rare convoy of several dozen vehicles enter Agadez from Arlit ... and go toward Niamey,” he said. “There are persistent rumors that Qaddafi or one of his sons are traveling in the convoy.”
Photo: EPA
The new Libyan leadership in Tripoli simply said it knew of a convoy crossing into Niger.
“We can confirm that about 200 cars crossed from Libya to Niger, but we can’t confirm who was in this convoy,” said Jalal al-Gallal, spokesman for the National Transitional Council. “These types of convoys usually carry Qaddafi or one of his sons.”
The nearest border to Arlit, a mining town north of Agadez, is with Algeria, where Qaddafi’s wife, daughter and two of his sons found refuge last week.
Speaking from Algeria, Nigerien Foreign Minister Mohamed Bazoum denied that Libya’s fugitive former strongman was in the convoy.
“It is not true, it is not Qaddafi and I do not think the convoy was of the size attributed to it,” he said by phone. “The truth is that several people, of varying importance, arrived in Niger. That’s it, there are no high-profile figures, certainly not Qaddafi himself nor any of his sons.”
He said the only officials in the convoy were Libyan TV executives.
When asked whether Qaddafi was welcome in Niger, the minister said that decision was the president’s to make, but added: “Qaddafi in Niger could cause some problems.”
Neighboring Burkina Faso, another regime with close ties to Qaddafi, which has not ruled out offering him shelter, was elusive when addressing reports that the convoy was heading to Ouagadougou.
“We have no such information at the moment. Obviously, if they cross our border, we will find out ... We are simply going to monitor the situation throughout the day,” a government official said.
France, which has been spearheading NATO operations to help rebels get rid of Qaddafi, also said it had no reason to believe that the fallen dictator was in the convoy.
On Monday, a Nigerien government official said another, smaller convoy of 11 high-profile Libyans had arrived in Niger.
“Muammar Qaddafi was not part of the delegation that arrived in Niger, which consisted of three Nigeriens, Agaly Alambo and two of his brothers, and 11 Libyans, among them Mansour Daw,” the government source said.
Daw was Qaddafi’s feared head of internal security and Alambo a historical leader in Niger’s Tuareg rebellion with close ties to Qaddafi.
When Western powers backed Libya’s own rebel movement earlier this year, Alambo recruited hundreds of former rebels from Niger to fight alongside Qaddafi, whom many Tuaregs across the region see as their champion.
Last week, a Tuareg source said that people close to Qaddafi had arrived in Agadez in April with suitcases full of money to recruit “hundreds” of young people.
The source said about 1,500 former Tuareg rebels had fought for Qaddafi.
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