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Libya: Another Day On Gadhafi's Trail, Brings Another Bout Of Rumors

A rebel  fighter stands on a military vehicle that was positioned to defend what used to be Gadhafi's 32nd infantry regiment's base at Mardun, some 10 kilometers from the outskirts of Ban Walid, Libya.
Gaia Anderson
/
AP
A rebel fighter stands on a military vehicle that was positioned to defend what used to be Gadhafi's 32nd infantry regiment's base at Mardun, some 10 kilometers from the outskirts of Ban Walid, Libya.

Another day in the hunt for Libya's deposed leader and another report from the rebels that they have him surrounded.

This time, Anis Sharif, the spokesman for Abdel Hakim Belhaj, the leader of one of the largest rebel militias in the country, told the AP the rebels had positioned themselves around an undisclosed location where they said Moammar Gadhafi was in.

Sharif said a combination of high technology and human intelligence

"He can't get out," Sharif told the AP. He added said rebels were preparing to kill or detain him. "We are just playing games with him," Sharif said.

Different people in Libya's fledgeling government have over the past weeks said Gadhafi was surrounded. All reports, thus far, have turned up empty.

Today's report is already being contradicted by a spokesman for the Transitional National Council.

The New York Times reports:

Abdulrahman Busin, the military press liaison, said that the reports of Colonel Qaddafi 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 announced that it would grant asylum to Colonel Qaddafi. On Tuesday however, according to the Associated Press, Burkina Faso officials said he would be arrested if he arrived there.

So where is Gadhafi? Niger has denied that he's in that country and U.S. State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland told the AP that there isn't "any evidence that Gadhafi is anywhere but in Libya at the moment."

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.