Mohamed Bazoum, Niger’s foreign minister, told French Radio from Algiers: “There’s no question that some people arrived. But it wasn’t at all of the order of magnitude that people have said. Two hundred vehicles, that’s inconceivable. Ten cars, maximum.’’
In an interview later, the justice minister, Marou Amadou, said there had been three cars, followed later by a fourth, with 13 Libyans in all. The only government figure, he said, was Mansour Dhao, Khadafy’s security chief.
“The rest were students, shopkeepers,’’ he said. “You know, when people are fleeing, they don’t choose their companions.’’
Amadou added cautions about the Libyan fighters who, he said, have been trickling across the border recently. Some could be Touaregs, or nomads in the region, he said.
“It could be really dangerous for the security of the region,’’ he said. “The desert is uncontrollable. The situation is complicated.’’
Bazoum was at a regional security conference in Algiers, where he made the exodus of fighters from Libya a major concern, adding to existing worries about the regional Al Qaeda affiliate, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
The claim yesterday that Khadafy was cornered came from Anis Sharif, the spokesman for Abdel Hakim Belhaj, who is the chairman of the Tripoli Military Committee and the leader of one of the biggest militias. Sharif said a variety of rebel units had converged on an area in the desert where they had confirmed the presence of the leader.
“We are waiting for the right moment to move in, and in the meantime we are tracking his movements,’’ Sharif said. “He doesn’t have a very strong protection with him, not as much protection as we had expected. He only moves at night to avoid NATO airstrikes.’’
Sharif declined to say where the location was, other than in the Sahara desert, which occupies more than half of the southern part of the country. He said that the rebel forces had advanced to within 40 miles of his location and had surrounded the area.
“He cannot escape,’’ he said, adding he expected former rebels to move in soon. “It’s up to the leaders on the ground who will make their move when it’s time.’’
Abdulrahman Busin, the military press liaison, said that the reports of Khadafy being surrounded were rumors, and that there were also unconfirmed reports that he was in yet another convoy moving toward the remote Niger border.
Niger also borders Burkina Faso, another landlocked Saharan country, which had previously said it would grant asylum to Khadafy. On Tuesday however, according to the Associated Press, Burkina Faso officials said he would be arrested if he arrived there.
