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Summary Gadhafi's security chief had crossed the desert accompanied by a major Tuareg rebel.
A senior member of Moammar Gadhafis inner circle slipped into Niger along with three carloads of collaborators, an official said Tuesday, but the toppled Libyan leader was not among them nor were any members of his immediate family.Massoudou Hassoumi, a spokesman for the president of this landlocked African nation which shares a border with Libya, said that Gadhafis security chief had crossed the desert accompanied by a major Tuareg rebel.The government of Niger dispatched a military convoy to escort Mansour Dao, the former commander of Libyas Revolutionary Guards who is a cousin of Gadhafi as well as a member of his inner circle, to the capital, Niamey.Dao is the only senior Libyan figure to have crossed into Niger, said Hassoumi, who denied reports that Gadhafi or any member of his immediate family was in the convoy.There were three cars that crossed with one senior official from Gadhafis regime, whom we have placed under surveillance, said Hassoumi, the chief of staff of President Mahamadou Issoufou. They arrived in Niamey yesterday night. They slept in Niamey. The official is Mansour Dao. He asked for refuge ... we sent a military convoy to get him.The group of nine people also included several pro-Gadhafi businessmen, as well as Agaly ag Alambo, a Tuareg rebel leader from Niger who led a failed uprising in the countrys north before crossing into Libya, where he was believed to be fighting for Gadhafi.US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said senior members of the Gadhafi regime were in the convoy that reached Niger.But we do not believe that Gadhafi was among them, she told reporters. We dont have any evidence that Gadhafi is anywhere but in Libya at the moment.Nuland said the United States has urged Niger to detain any individuals who may be subject to prosecution in Libya, as well as to confiscate their weapons and impound any state property, such as money or jewels, that were illegally taken out of the country.Since Tripolis fall last month to Libyan rebels, there has been a movement of Gadhafi loyalists across the porous desert border that separates Libya from Niger. They include Tuareg fighters who are nationals of Niger and next-door neighbour Mali who fought on Gadhafis behalf in the recent civil war.
