ALGERIA’S FOREIGN MINISTRY says that members of Gaddafi’s family crossed over the border from neighbouring Libya today, however it gave no mention of the ousted leader’s whereabouts. Algeria has not yet recognised the legitimacy of the rebels’ National Transitional Council.
The ministry had denied weekend reports that several armoured Mercedes vehicles carrying senior figures from Gaddafi’s regime had entered the country.
Al Jazeera reports that those thought to have crossed into Algeria include Gaddafi’s second wife Safia, his daughter Aisha and his sons Mohammed and Hannibal. Meanwhile, Reuters reports this evening that one of Gaddafi’s sons, Khamis, has been killed in clashes with rebels outside Tripoli. However, no independent verification of the death has been attained.
The National Transitional Council said that if the reports about Gaddafi’s family in Algeria prove true, it will demand their return to Libya for trial. The council’s military spokesperson Ahmen Bani said he wasn’t surprised to hear that Algeria had welcomed the family.
Earlier today, the rebel council’s leader Mustafa Abdul-Jalil warned NATO that Gaddafi can still cause trouble and is “still capable of doing something awful in the last moments.”
Confused killings
The African Union’s chairperson Jean Ping said today that Libyal rebels may be indiscriminantly killing black people, confusing migrant workers with mercenaries brought into the country by Gaddafi to bolster his defences.
“They are killing people, normal workers, mistreating them,” Ping said, calling for the protection and evacuation of migrant workers.
However, council spokesman Abdel-hafiz Ghoga denied Ping’s accusations, saying that “this never took place”.
Lockerbie
The man convicted of carrying out the deadly Lockerbie bombing in 1988, Abdel Baset Ali al-Megrahi, has been found at his home in Tripoli. He is reportedly in a coma and seriously ill.
The Scottish government controversially released al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds in 2009 after he had served eight years in prison.
- Additional reporting by the AP
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