GADDIFI TOPPLED!!!!!TRIPOLI CELEBRATING!!!!!!!!

He looks such a cute kid. I hope his leg heals in double fast time now.

Good morning!

Al Jazeera Live Blog;

16 hours 15 min ago

The AFP news agency reports that a series of blasts that rocked Tripoli and sent up a huge black plume of smoke on Saturday was "accidental," a fighter for Libya's National Transitional Council said.

"This was just an accident. The weapons store exploded by itself. This was not caused by anyone," the NTC fighter, Abdel Basset Hussein, told AFP outside the naval base housing the munitions.

The series of explosions had erupted earlier in the afternoon, causing jitters among residents in the eastern districts of city where the naval base is located. [AFP]

17 hours 1 min ago

Libyan provisional government forces have found weapons believed to be banned internationally near Sabha and Wadan, the head of the National Transitional Council (NTC), Mustafa Abdel Jalil, said on Saturday.

"There are weapons believed to be internationally forbidden, and they are under our control," Abdel Jalil told a news conference in Benghazi, monitored in Cairo. "We will seek help from local experts and the international community to get rid of these weapons in a suitable way," he added.

At least the ones that blew up can't do any more harm, LL.

Horrifying story just coming out:

Libya: 'Mass Grave Found' Amid Heavy Fighting

A mass grave reportedly containing the bodies of more than 1,200 people has been found in Tripoli as intense fighting continues in Gaddafi's home town of Sirte.

The National Transitional Council (NTC) said the remains are believed to be that of the victims of the 1996 Abu Salim prison massacre.
Human rights groups have estimated Muammar Gaddafi's forces shot dead up to 2,000 inmates as they were protesting about conditions at the facility.

More at:

http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16076810

Oh Good God. Not again. Just let's hope the Libyans don't kill him. That wouldn't be nearly good enough,

I hope they don't, Sabot, I hope he and his henchmen stand trial - but who could blame the Libyans if he goes the way of Mussolini and others?

No, Bonny, you couldn't blame them. But I suspect that he will escape from Lybia, so let's hope there won't be any stuff and nonsense about handing him over.

Sabot wrote:
No, Bonny, you couldn't blame them. But I suspect that he will escape from Lybia, so let's hope there won't be any stuff and nonsense about handing him over.

If he manages to escape to Niger or any of the other African states who have relied on his generosity to them with Libya's money, then they won't hand him over to anyone. He'll be guarded like a precious jewel, as maybe one day, WHEN he returns to power, he will again be generous and reward handsomely those who helped him in his hour of need. LL

A later Good Morning!

Al Jazeera Live Blog:

36 min 52 sec ago

Tripoli University says it is asking the London School of Economics (LSE) to return money pledged by Saif al-Islam Gaddafi and investigate other similar cases as it prepares to re-open later this academic year, allowing its students who have been on the battlefronts to rehabilitate before returning to class.

Gaddafi, who earned his PhD at LSE, pledged $2.3mn to the institution.

University officials say the money offered was stolen from the Libyan people and should be either reimbursed or used to fund scholarships for Libyans studying in the UK.

"First of all, we want to bring them back the money which they have been paid illegally. Secondly then through our legal group they are going to make more further enquiries about other people who may be the same cases of Saif al-Islam," said interim head of Tripoli University, Dr. Faisal al-Koreekshi.

An independent inquiry headed by Lord Woolf, a former lord chief justice, is examining the LSE's relationship with Libya.

"I'm confident in the British system that they can clarify in a legal way what happened exactly. Based on that results, we're going to act," al-Koreekshi said.

The LSE faced embarrassment shortly after the start of the Libyan uprising in February when Saif al-Islam warned of "rivers of blood" if protests against his father's regime continued. Furious criticism over its links with the Gaddafi regime forced the resignation of its director, Sir Howard Davies.

43 min 52 sec ago

Scottish prosecutors have contacted Libya's interim rulers for help in tracking down information which could lead to others being charged over the 1988 bombing of a US-bound airliner over Lockerbie in Scotland.

"In particular we have asked the NTC [National Transitional Council] to make available to the Crown any documentary evidence and witnesses which could assist in the ongoing enquiries," a spokeswoman for the Scottish Crown Office said.

Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, a former Libyan agent who was convicted of the bombing which killed 270 people, was released on compassionate grounds in 2009, but the Crown Office said his trial court had accepted he had not acted alone.

49 min 52 sec ago

She's an American who grew up in Illinois, she's three months pregnant, and she's not quite sure how she and herLibyan husband got to be holed up in a mosque right on the frontline in Muammar Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte.

"I just want to get out of here, it's dangerous," she said Sunday, as NATO warplanes bombed the city a day after fighters for the country's new regime engaged in deadly street battles with troops loyal to the ousted dictator.

The street fights continued on the eastern edge of the city, but fighters withdrew on the western side to a bridge just a hundred metres (yards) from the
mosque compound. It was there that the US woman and around 150 others sought refuge.

In the Imam Malik mosque on the edge of Sirte, the US woman was hiding for a week after spending months inside the city. The men sleep and socialise in the mosque itself while the women and children live packed into a small one-storey building in the compound.

The American said her father was a Libyan and that she had met her husband while he was working as a labourer in the United States. They decided to move to Libya and settled in his hometown, Tawarga.

When they fled their home they took only a few possessions with them, even leaving their US passports behind them in their haste to escape. They now have only a slim chance of retrieving them as many of the houses in Tawarga have been looted, and it could be dangerous for them to try and
return there.

The woman appeared to know little about what has been happening in Libya since the anti-Gaddafi uprising began in February. She was sceptical when told that the NTC was now in power in the capital Tripoli.

The fighters - all from Misrata - manning the frontline nearby bring them food and water, and the ambulances that park under the bridge, waiting to ferry those wounded in battle to field hospitals, give them medical aid. "The thwar (fighters) treat us well," she said.

She and her husband said they wanted to go and stay with relatives in the south of Libya but did not know how they would get there as they have no transport.

Ultimately they plan to reach the United States and wait there until things settle down in Libya before returning one day to Tawarga. "When we have peace and quiet we will come back," she said.

3 hours 25 min ago

Gaddafi loyalists launched an attack on the desert oasis town of Ghadames on Sunday, where they plan to re-group and re-arm, NTC officials said.

The attack underlined the fragility of the NTC's grip even on parts of the country nominally under its control.

The town, about 600km southwest of Tripoli, is near a border crossing that pro-Gaddafi Libyans have used to flee into Algeria. Its old town, an intricate maze of mud walls, is a UNESCO world heritage site.

"These militias have attacked our people in Ghadames city," the NTC's Bani told a news conference, adding that NTC fighters expected to be in full control of the area in "a matter of days".

5 hours 24 min ago

Muammar Gaddafi's chief spokesman said on Sunday the deposed Libyan leader and his family had not helped themselves to Libya's oil wealth and that they were "among the poorest citizens".

Speaking to Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location, Moussa Ibrahim said no one had been able to show that Gaddafi or his family had assets or accounts.

"That is more proof of the honesty and transparency of this family and that they are an ordinary Libyan family," said Ibrahim, who usually acts as Gaddafi's contact with the international media.

"The leader of the revolution and his family are among the poorest citizens," Ibrahim said. "All the wealth of Libya is traceable to functioning companies and institutions".

"The leader of the revolution and his family are among the poorest citizens,"

bb1 wrote:

"The leader of the revolution and his family are among the poorest citizens,"

I don't know what planet that 'spokesman' is on, but it sure ain't this one! He's as mad as his boss! So, where did all the money come for all those palaces? Gadaffi came from a poor Bedouin family, he was born in a bl**dy tent in the desert! He was an army officer when he led the coup against the king, and I doubt Libyan soldiers were paid that well. LL

Good morning err afternoon!

Al Jazeera:

Street battles rage in Gaddafi hometown
Fighters supporting interim Libyan government enter town of Sirte from east for first time amid intense fighting.
Last Modified: 26 Sep 2011 17:00

Fighters supporting Libya's interim government have raced into the eastern outskirts of Sirte backed by NATO warplanes and are fighting street-to-street battles with loyalists of Muammar Gaddafi in his home town.

Thick black smoke billowed into the air as National Transitional Council (NTC) fighters battled at a roundabout about 2km from the centre of the key town on Monday.

The thud of large explosions could be heard as NATO aircraft roared overhead, but NATO would not comment on latest operations in Sirte.

NTC fighters fought with machineguns and rifles and moved tanks and heavy artillery into the town.

"[NTC fighters] are entering the city from the east for the first time," Al Jazeera's Sue Turton, reporting from the frontlines, said. [see video at end of post]

"But there is only so much that NATO can do because there are civilians still in the city."

NTC fighters had pulled out of the town a day earlier after facing stiff resistance.

Sirte, besides the town of Bani Walid, are still controlled by loyalists of Gaddafi, who was driven out of capital Tripoli after months of fighting.

Abu Salim massacre

Meanwhile, Libya's new rulers have revealed the discovery of a mass grave believed to hold the remains of more than 1,200 people in the Libyan capital.

Khalid Sharif, a spokesman for the NTC's military council, said the bodies were those of prisoners who were executed at Tripoli's notorious Abu Salim jail in 1996 - though it was not immediately possible to verify the claim.

"We found the place where all these martyrs were buried," said Sharif, adding it was evidence of "criminal acts" by Gaddafi's regime.

Salim al-Farjani, a member of the committee set up to identify the remains, appealed for international help.

"We call on foreign organisations and the international community to help us in this task of identifying the remains of more than 1,700 people," said Farjani.

The massacre of the inmates helped trigger the revolt in February, when families of Abu Salim victims in the eastern city of Benghazi called for protests against the arrest of their lawyer.

Farjani said he witnessed the gruesome site where the Abu Salim victims were found.

"We were invited to visit the place where the corpses of the prisoners at Abu Salim were found, where we saw scattered human bones," he said.

Farjani also referred to "egregious acts committed against dead bodies, on which acid was poured to eliminate any evidence of this massacre".

International rights groups had for years urged Gaddafi's regime to come clean about the fate of prisoners killed at the jail.

Sue Turton reports from Sirte:

Fighters supporting Libya's interim government have raced into the eastern outskirts of Sirte backed by NATO warplanes and are fighting street-to-street battles with loyalists of Muammar Gaddafi in his home town.

Libya fighting rages for Gaddafi hometown
At least seven NTC fighters killed in continuing push for Sirte, while offensive in Bani Walid stalls.



NTC forces called in tanks into Sirte on Tuesday, and say they will assault the town with heavy weapons [Reuters]

Seven people have been killed and at least 40 wounded as Libya's National Transitional Council forces launched a fresh assault on Sirte, the hometown of former ruler Muammar Gaddafi.

The dead include two NTC commanders who were shot by snipers in fighting near Sirte's port on Tuesday, according to medical officials at a field hospital.

NTC fighters are close to the main roundabout in the east of the city, but snipers continue to be their biggest hurdle, Al Jazeera's Sue Turton reported from outside the city.

Reinforcements were sent in for the anti-Gaddafi forces on Tuesday, including two tanks and about a dozen trucks carrying infantry.

Heavy artillery and tanks were moved on Tuesday afternoon to new positions by NTC forces, in an attempt to combat rocket attacks by pro-Gaddafi forces. Revolutionary forces say they are planning an assault with heavy weapons on the city, but they are currently allowing families to leave.

An NTC commander said that casualties were high in Tuesday's assault as many of the fighters were not familiar with the city, and "faced heavy fire from Gaddafi's forces".

Fateh Marimri, an NTC fighter who left Sirte via its eastern gate, told the AFP news agency that clashes had been taking place near the Mahari Hotel in the city.

"There is intense fighting between us and them. They are using heavy weapons but we are not as we want to cause minimum damage to civilians," Marimri said.

Mustafa bin Dardef, commander of the NTC's Zintan Brigade, said that anti-Gaddafi forces were now "controlling the port" in the east of the city.

Sirte's port and university lie on the northeastern side of the city, while Gaddafi's compound and military bunkers are in the centre.

Possible truce

Even as fighting raged on the eastern front, Touhami Zayani, the commander of the NTC's al-Farouk Brigade on the western edge of Sirte, told the Reuters news agency that he had been contacted by an elder from Gaddafi's tribe regarding a possible truce.

"He called me [on my satellite phone] and said we are looking for a safe passage for the families and for the militia to leave the city," he said.


Zayani said that he had agreed to allow families from Gaddafi's tribe, who make up the majority of Sirte's population, to leave, but was still negotiating terms for the surrender of armed Gaddafi loyalists.

"We didn't really get into details and we didn't talk much about how they will leave but I think the scenario will be that they have to give up their weapons," Zayani said.

NTC soldiers on the eastern front were not enthusiastic about possible negotiations.

Asked about the possibility of a truce with pro-Gaddafi forces, Omar al-Qatrany, an NTC commander on the eastern front line said: "Those people don't want to negotiate and we don't care about them any more. Our main concern is to evacuate families out of Sirte and then we will bomb the city."

The NTC forces assault on Bani Walid, the other major population centre that they are attempting to bring under their control, has stalled, meanwhile, due to fierce resistance from pro-Gaddafi forces.

"NTC fighters pulled out from some areas they control in Bani Walid due to the intensity of fire," said Abdallah Kenshil, the new government's chief negotiator in abortive efforts to broker the town's surrender.


More at:

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/09/201192722259122579.html

http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16078825

'Mass Grave' Found Close To Libyan Hotel

1:56pm UK, Wednesday September 28, 2011
Alex Rossi, in Libya

The new Libyan authorities claim to have discovered another "mass grave" in Tripoli - close to a hotel at which Western journalists had been forced to stay.

The National Transitional Council (NTC) say the latest site is being unearthed near the Rixos Hotel, where 37 foreign journalists were trapped by the Gaddafi government during the fall of Tripoli.
A total of eight corpses have so far been uncovered although no evidence has yet been made available linking it to the previous regime.
The discovery was made after a soldier saw blood on the ground and what looked like broken limbs.
The military spokesman for the armed forces of the NTC, Radwan Elbuzedi, says "the bloody behaviour is typical of the style of the Gaddafi government".
It is thought the alleged victims died within the past five months and the NTC is speculating that they could be local civilians.




The bodies were reportedly found close to the Rixos hotel


The latest announcement comes after the NTC said at the weekend that a mass grave holding the decayed remains of more than 1,200 people had been found just outside the capital.
The transitional government said it was the burial site for the victims of the Abu Salim prison massacre in 1996, but no concrete proof has been given.
Excavation has not yet started at the site and so far only bone fragments and bits of clothing have been found in the top soil.
If true, though, it would be yet more damning evidence of the brutality of the Gaddafi regime.
It has long been claimed that Colonel Gaddafi carried out a massacre at the infamous prison after inmates rioted over their inhumane conditions.
Most of the convicts were political prisoners.
Meanwhile, the hunt for Col Gaddafi is continuing, with reports he may be hiding near the Algerian border in the Libyan town of Ghadamis.
Senior military official Hisham Buhagiar says he is being supported and protected by the Touareg tribe.

____________

The only good thing it is possible to say about that is that hopefully the victims can be identified, and their families can bury them with dignity.

Good evening! Thanks bonny for posting stuff up for me today, LL

Al Jazeera:

Libyan fighters 'capture' Sirte airport

Forces loyal to interim government say they are in control of the airport in one of last bastions of Gaddafi support.
Last Modified: 28 Sep 2011 17:55

Forces loyal to Libya's interim government say they have captured the airport in Sirte, the birthplace of the former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Fighters belonging to National Transitional Council said on Wednesday they were in control of the airport after intense fighting in the coastal city, one of the last of two bastions of support for the deposed Libyan leader.

Sirte has withstood a siege by NTC fighters hitting it with tank and rocket fire as well as NATO air raids.

But intense sniper and artillery fire from pro-Gaddafi forces has so far prevented NTC forces from taking Sirte, despite more than two weeks of fighting and two full-on assaults.

Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr, reporting from the city, said the latest seizure by NTC forces marked the capture of a strategic site.

"Anti-Gaddafi fighters seem to be in control of Sirte airport, a very strategic location; they have been receiving help from NATO," she said.

But our correspondent said that NTC fighters have not been able to hold territory inside Sirte.

"They are outside the town, there have been major clashes since Saturday but they couldn't maintain territory [and] they had to retreat," she said.

"One has to remember that Gaddafi has supporters in Sirte, he has fighters, mercenaries. volunteers and they are all armed."

Concern for civilians

Amid the fighting, the UN and international aid agencies have expressed concern over conditions for civilians trapped inside.

Our correspondent said:"People that are trapped in Sirte have told us that the situation is dire, there is no electricity or water. The hospitals have no medicine and no staff.

"The NTC are concerned about the people that are trapped in Abu Hadi, they are from across the country. They don't have water or electricity, it seems like they have been used as human shields.

"There is a an urgency for the fighters to take over Sirte as soon as possible."

It has been more than a month since NTC fighters captured the capital Tripoli, and Gaddafi remains defiantly on the run, pledging to lead a campaign of armed resistance against the new leaders.

Lack of co-ordination and divisions on the front have hampered NTC attempts to capture Sirte and the other bastion of Gaddafi's control, Bani Walid.

Gaddafi is believed to be holed up near the western town of Ghadamis near the Algerian border under the protection of Tuareg tribesmen, a senior NTC military official has said.

"There has been a fight between Tuareg tribesmen who are loyal to Gaddafi and Arabs living there [in the south].

"We are negotiating, the Gaddafi search is taking a different course," Hisham Buhagiar told the Reuters news agency.

Many Tuaregs, nomads who roam the desert spanning the borders of Libya and its neighbours, have backed Gaddafi since he supported their rebellions against the governments of Mali and Niger in the 1970s and allowed them to settle in Libya.

Buhagiar said Gaddafi's most politically prominent son, Saif al-Islam, was in Bani Walid, and that another influential son, Mutassem, was in Sirte.

Al Jazeera:

Gaddafi's toxic Libyan legacy
Published 28 September 2011 01:39

There is growing concern over the legacy that the era of Muammar Gaddafi, the deposed Libya leader, is leaving behind, as tons of dangerous chemical waste has been found at sites around the country. In a desolate part of southern Libya, about 800km from Tripoli, for example, about 10,000 drums of radioactive 'yellowcake', an essential ingredient in the uranium enrichment process, have been been found. Al Jazeera's Tony Birtley reports from Sabha, Libya.

Oh dear, LL. That is terrible news but the only positive thing to say is that it has been found. Heaven knows where other dangerous chemicals might be hidden?

lily wrote:Oh dear, LL. That is terrible news but the only positive thing to say is that it has been found. Heaven knows where other dangerous chemicals might be hidden?

Apparently there is mustard gas and sarin - not sure how much they have found so far. Certainly the musdtard gas has turned up, or some of it, but the sarin, assuming Ghadaffi had some? I think, besides the mass graves and the yellowcake suddenly being found, there will be other unsavoury revelations in the near future. LL

Does Gaddafi have immunity against those types of crimes, LL?

lily wrote:Does Gaddafi have immunity against those types of crimes, LL?

There's a Hague War Crimes Court warrant out for him, two of his sons and one of his ministers. The ownership of WMDs - or materials which could be used in the possible manufacture of such items will, I am sure, the part of the indictment, along with the use of mercenaries, rape, torture, killings of civilians, etc. As far as I know, the issue of such an indictment removes all immunity, remember the Mladic etc cases from Bosnia and Serbia which opened the accused up to prosecution. LL

So, Saddam Hussein, whom Blair claimed had WMDs, and took us to war over, turned out not to have them.

Gaddafi, with whom Blair was exchanging manly hugs in tents, has turned out to have them, following us acting as Mad Max's airforce?

I know which looks like the better deal right now....

bb1 wrote:So, Saddam Hussein, whom Blair claimed had WMDs, and took us to war over, turned out not to have them.

Gaddafi, with whom Blair was exchanging manly hugs in tents, has turned out to have them, following us acting as Mad Max's airforce?

I know which looks like the better deal right now....

As I remember, Ghaddafi handed over his nuclear items to Bush (and Blair?) - see this link: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/80334/Gaddafi-gives-up-his-nukes.html LL

Thanks, LL, I had forgotten what an oily toad Blair was....

Isn't he just? Oh, but he's made a fortune. It has obviously made him very happy.

Good morning - late again, it's me age!!

Al Jazeera:


Libyan fighters 'capture' Sirte airport

Forces loyal to interim government say they are in control of the airport in one of last bastions of Gaddafi support.
Last Modified: 28 Sep 2011 23:02

Forces loyal to Libya's interim government say they have captured the airport in Sirte, the birthplace of the former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Fighters belonging to National Transitional Council said on Wednesday they were in control of the airport after intense fighting in the coastal city, one of the last of two bastions of support for the deposed Libyan leader.

Sirte has withstood a siege by NTC fighters hitting it with tank and rocket fire as well as NATO air raids.

But intense sniper and artillery fire from pro-Gaddafi forces has so far prevented NTC forces from taking Sirte, despite more than two weeks of fighting and two full-on assaults.

Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr, reporting from the city, said the latest seizure by NTC forces marked the capture of a strategic site.

"Anti-Gaddafi fighters seem to be in control of Sirte airport, a very strategic location; they have been receiving help from NATO," she said.

But our correspondent said that NTC fighters have not been able to hold territory inside Sirte.

"They are outside the town, there have been major clashes since Saturday but they couldn't maintain territory [and] they had to retreat," she said.

"One has to remember that Gaddafi has supporters in Sirte, he has fighters, mercenaries. volunteers and they are all armed."

Concern for civilians

Amid the fighting, the UN and international aid agencies have expressed concern over conditions for civilians trapped inside.

Our correspondent said:"People that are trapped in Sirte have told us that the situation is dire, there is no electricity or water. The hospitals have no medicine and no staff.

"The NTC are concerned about the people that are trapped in Abu Hadi, they are from across the country. They don't have water or electricity, it seems like they have been used as human shields.

"There is a an urgency for the fighters to take over Sirte as soon as possible."

It has been more than a month since NTC fighters captured the capital Tripoli, and Gaddafi remains defiantly on the run, pledging to lead a campaign of armed resistance against the new leaders.

Lack of co-ordination and divisions on the front have hampered NTC attempts to capture Sirte and the other bastion of Gaddafi's control, Bani Walid.

Gaddafi is believed to be holed up near the western town of Ghadamis near the Algerian border under the protection of Tuareg tribesmen, a senior NTC military official has said.

"There has been a fight between Tuareg tribesmen who are loyal to Gaddafi and Arabs living there [in the south].

"We are negotiating, the Gaddafi search is taking a different course," Hisham Buhagiar told the Reuters news agency.

Many Tuaregs, nomads who roam the desert spanning the borders of Libya and its neighbours, have backed Gaddafi since he supported their rebellions against the governments of Mali and Niger in the 1970s and allowed them to settle in Libya.

Buhagiar said Gaddafi's most politically prominent son, Saif al-Islam, was in Bani Walid, and that another influential son, Mutassem, was in Sirte.

Al Jazeera update re taking of Sirte Airport:

Libyan fighters seize Sirte airport

Progress in one of the last bastions of Gaddafi support claimed as Senator John McCain leads US delegation to Tripoli.
Last Modified: 29 Sep 2011 16:06

Forces of Libya's interim government have captured the airport in Muammar Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte with support from NATO warplanes, one of two main remaining bastions of support for the deposed leader.

Sirte has withstood a two-week-long siege by fighters belong to the National Transitional Council [NTC] hitting it with tank and rocket fire as well as NATO air raids.

But intense sniper and artillery fire from pro-Gaddafi forces has so far prevented the NTC forces from taking the city.

Thursday's developments on the Sirte frontline coincided with a visit by a US delegation headed by John McCain, the influentail Republican senator and former presidential candidate, to the Libyan capital, Tripoli.

This was the first prominent visit by a US delegation since Gaddafi's overthrow.

"Libyan people have inspired the world, the sacrifice of the Libyan people give Libyans a lasting chance for peace," he said at a news conference.

"The next few month will shape the future. The NTC will announce a new cabinet and it is important for it to be inclusive of all.

"It is important of the NTC to bring in any armed groups under its responsible authority. They also need to bring Gaddafi and his family to justice.

McCain also encouraged free flow of trade and investment between the two countries.

Hunger strike

In other developments, Al-Baghdadi Ali al-Mahmoudi, a prime minister under Gaddafi, said through his lawyer that he had started a hunger strike in a prison in Tunisa in protest against a request for his extradition from the NTC.

Tunisian prosecutors say they have received the request and are therefore keeping him in prison despite him winning an appeal against a six-month jail sentence for crossing into Tunisia illegally.

Separately, Interpol issued an alert calling for the arrest of a second son of Gaddafi, putting pressure on Niger to detain Saadi Gaddafi who fled there three weeks ago.

The international police agency has already issued "red notices" seeking the arrest of Muammar Gaddafi and one of his sons, the politically prominent Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, as well as Gaddafi's intelligence chief, Abdullah al-Senussi.

The whereabouts of those three remain a mystery more than a month since Gaddafi's rule was toppled.

Interpol, which is based in Lyon, said it issued an alert for Saadi Gaddafi at the request of the NTC, who accuse him of leading military units responsible for crackdowns on protests and of misappropriating property.

Niger says it has placed Saadi Gaddafi under surveillance after he was intercepted crossing its desert frontier. Niger officials were not immediately available to comment on the Interpol arrest notice.

It has been more than a month since NTC fighters captured Tripoli, but Gaddafi remains defiantly on the run, pledging to lead a campaign of armed resistance against the new leaders.

Lack of co-ordination and divisions on the front have hampered NTC attempts to capture Sirte and the other bastion of Gaddafi's control, Bani Walid.

Gaddafi is believed to be holed up near the western town of Ghadamis near the Algerian border under the protection of Tuareg tribesmen, a senior NTC military official has said.

Many Tuaregs, nomads who roam the desert spanning the borders of Libya and its neighbours, have backed Gaddafi since he supported their uprisings against the governments of Mali and Niger in the 1970s and allowed them to settle in Libya.