Libya’s new leaders were yesterday urgently seeking Niger’s help in preventing Muammar Gaddafi, his family or his troops from crossing the border, as the hunt for the fugitive strongman intensified.
The United States also urged other nations to deny refuge to any wanted Libyans.
New regime forces, meanwhile, were poised to battle loyalist troops still holding out in their remaining strongholds of Bani Walid, southeast of Tripoli, Sabha in the deep south and the coastal city of Sirte, Kadhafi’s hometown.
In the run-up to a transfer of the government in waiting once the final holdouts have fallen, National Transitional Council (NTC) number two Mahmud Jibril arrived in Tripoli, acting deputy information minister Khaled Najm said.
However, an NTC spokesman in Benghazi said the new authorities would not complete their transfer to the traditional capital until Libya was “fully liberated.”
“We still have work to do here” in Benghazi, said Fathi Baja, head of the NTC’s political affairs committee.
Meanwhile, Colonel Gaddafi’s sole remaining media mouthpiece, Mishan al-Juburi, owner of the Syria-based Arrai Oruba television, said the defeated leader and his son Seif al-Islam were still in Libya.
“I can tell you that I spoke with Gaddafi very recently,” Mr Juburi said.
“He is in Libya, in very good spirits, feels strong, is not afraid, and would be happy to die fighting against the occupiers,” Mr Juburi, a former Iraqi MP, said by telephone.
“His son Seif al-Islam is in the same state of mind,” added Mr Juburi, whose channel has broadcast a number of audio messages from the Gaddafis since Tripoli was overrun by rebel fighters last month.
Libya’s new rulers are anxious to arrest Col Gaddafi and put him on trial, sealing their hold on the country.
They are fearful he may slip into a neighbouring state, particularly Niger, to which a convoy carrying other senior ousted regime officials fled on Monday. Bidding to cut off Col Gaddafi’s potential escape routes, the NTC said it had dispatched a team to Niamey.
“We have sent a delegation today that is going to Niger to talk... about securing our borders to stop any kind of infiltration,” said Mr Baha.
“We ask any neighbouring countries to stop Gaddafi people from going to their land,” Mr Fathi told reporters in Benghazi.
The US said Gaddafi aides who entered Niger were being detained.
“Our understanding is that the convoy included some military and senior officials under Gaddafi’s former regime,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.
“They are now being held in the capital... and they are being monitored closely by Nigerien officials.” Washington, in addition to working with Niger, “is in contact with Mali, Mauritania, Chad and Burkina Faso to emphasize the importance of respecting the UN Security Council resolutions and of securing their borders,” Ms Nuland said.
The US was “calling on all of these countries to make every effort to control their borders, to detain any Gaddafi regime officials, to confiscate contraband and any illegal weapons, to disarm them and also to confiscate any wealth that might properly belong to the Libya people.”
The large convoy of civilian and military vehicles entered Niger late on Monday.
Niger was adamant Col Gaddafi was not with them, and Washington said he was not believed to be among them.
Col Gaddafi’s remaining forces had been given a Saturday deadline to surrender, in a bid to spare further bloodshed.
NTC forces yesterday advanced along the road from Um Khunfis to the Red Valley, the pro-Gaddafi forces’ frontline, some 60 kilometres east of Sirte, an AFP journalist said, reporting artillery fire.
Nato, in its latest operational update yesterday, said its warplanes had bombed six tanks, six armoured fighting vehicles, four armed vehicles, a munitions store and an artillery piece in Sirte the previous day.