Libyan convoy crosses desert borders

A large convoy of Libyan soldiers loyal to ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi crossed the desert border into Niger Tripoli – Agencies A large convoy of Libyan soldiers loyal to ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi crossed the desert border into Niger and rolled into the frontier town of Agadez late Monday, a resident who is the owner of a local newspaper said, amid reports that the effort to track down Gaddafi is being led by competing factions of military commanders and bounty hunters.
The convoy consisted of more than a dozen pickup trucks bristling with well-armed Libyan troops, said Abdoulaye Harouna, the owner of the Agadez Info newspaper, who saw them arrive, The Associated Press reported.
At the head of the convoy, he said, was Tuareg rebel leader Rissa ag Boula, a native of Niger who led a failed war of independence on behalf of ethnic Tuareg nomads a decade ago. He then sought refuge in Libya and was believed to be fighting on behalf of Qaddafi.
It was not immediately clear if the convoy included any members of the Qaddafi family or other high-level members of his regime, although an AFP source has said that, “There are persistent rumors that Qaddafi or one of his sons are travelling in the convoy.”
The French military source said he had been told Muammar Gaddafi and his son Saif al-Islam might be considering joining the convoy en route to Burkina Faso, a landlocked West African state which has offered Gaddafi and his family asylum and has a border with Niger.
Niger's harbouring of wanted Gaddafi-regime officials is "a breach of the United Nations travel [restrictions] for most of these people", Aly Abuzaakouk, executive director of Libya Human and Political Development Forum, told Al Jazeera.
The head of Gaddafi's security brigades, Mansour Dhao, along with more than 10 other Libyans, crossed into Niger on Sunday, two Niger officials said earlier on Monday.
Scarcely a day goes by without someone claiming to know exactly where Qaddafi is hiding within that triangle. The problem is that they do not always agree with one another, according to the Post.
On Monday, Anes al-Sharif, a member of the civilian-run Supreme Security Committee in Tripoli, said he had received solid information that Qaddafi had been seen 12 miles south of loyalist-held Sirte just two days ago, preparing to head farther south toward Sabha.
But a member of the ruling Transitional National Council said he had received “reliable information from a person close to Qaddafi” that put the former Libyan leader’s location closer to Bani Walid.
The manhunt for Qaddafi is an important priority both for the revolutionaries and for many Libyan civilians who say they will not feel truly safe until the former dictator is captured or killed. Audio messages from Qaddafi threatening to turn Libya “into hell” have added to the sense of unease here.
Two separate rewards of 2 million and 6 million Libyan dinars ($1.7 million and $5 million) have been offered for Qaddafi’s capture or death, officials said, which has helped encourage the flow of information but also prompted some rebels to go freelance in trying to catch him.
Negotiations continue around Bani Walid
Al Jazeera's Andrew Simmons, reporting from near the town, spoke to some of those who have tried to seal a deal with the Gaddafi loyalists inside.
On-off talks involving tribal elders from Bani Walid and a fog of contradictory messages in recent days, have reflected the complexities of dismantling the remnants of Gaddafi's rule and building a new political system.
"They say they want to go step by step, and negotiate with the various tribes around Bani Walid before moving in. They want to end this peacefully," Simmons said.
"But the chances of this happening remain unclear, as Gaddafi forces remain inside the town. They have many civilians around them."
At a military checkpoint about 60km north of the town on the road to the capital, Abdallah Kanshil, who is conducting talks for the interim government, said a peaceful handover of Bani Walid was imminent.
A day earlier, he had said peace talks broke down after Gaddafi loyalists insisted the fighters put down their weapons before entering Bani Walid.
Similar statements have been made for days, however. In any case, 20km closer to Bani Walid, NTC forces have built a field hospital and installed 10 volunteer doctors to prepare for the possibility that Gaddafi loyalists will not give up without a fight.
Reporting from near Bani Walid earlier on Monday, Al Jazeera's Sue Turton said: "Fighters pushed to within seven kilometres of the centre of the town and exchanged fire with some of Gaddafi's forces.
"But they have since retreated a little bit instead of setting up a defensive position there."
Negotiations also continued for the surrender of Sirte, Gaddafi's hometown in the east of the country.
Some NTC officials said they had information that Saif al-Islam had fled Bani Walid on Saturday for the southern deserts that lead to the Niger and Algerian borders.
UK to examine spy ties
In a separate development, documents uncovered in Tripoli show a close relationship between Western intelligence agencies and Col Gaddafi's government, which is known to have used torture, the rebels say.
The documents mention the names of several people targeted for rendition - the extrajudicial arrest and transfer of terrorism suspects.
Security documents discovered after the fall of Tripoli have offered embarrassing examples of the warm relationships that British and American spies had developed with their Libyan counterparts.
Files discovered among tens of thousands of papers collected from an External Security building in Tripoli show how Abdel-Hakim Belhaj, now Libya's rebel military commander, was targeted for rendition.
The CIA used secret rendition flights after the 9/11 attacks to transport terror suspects to third countries for interrogation. Many suspects later said they were tortured.
A British inquiry into alleged complicity in the mistreatment of suspected terrorists said Monday it would look into claims that foreign spy agency MI6 was involved in rendition to Libya.
Against this backdrop of continued conflict, David Cameron, the British prime minister, said an inquiry into his country's pursuit of terrorism suspects will examine new allegations about cozy ties between UK intelligence officials and the Gaddafi regime.
Cameron backed the decision to examine the allegations but warned against rushing to judgment.
"In 2003... there was a Libyan terrorist group that was allied to Al-Qaeda and at all times our security services and intelligence services are trying to work for the good of the country," he told lawmakers.
Malcolm Rifkind, the chair of parliament's cross-party Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) said he had asked for "clarification" about "the nature and extent of intelligence-sharing with the Libyan security services and the rendition of Libyan nationals".
Chinese arms companies linked to Gaddafi regime
Citing secret documents it had obtained, The Globe and Mail reported that state-controlled Chinese arms companies were ready to sell weapons and ammunition worth at least $200 million to Gaddafi in late July.It said the papers did not confirm that anything was actually delivered, but senior NTC members said they reinforced their suspicions about the recent actions of China, Algeria and South Africa, the report said