Niger President's spokesman denies Gaddafi sneaked into country with family members

Niamey, Sept 7 (ANI): A senior member of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's inner circle sneaked into Niger along with three carloads of collaborators, but the fallen Libyan leader or his family members were not among them, an official there has confirmed.

Massoudou Hassoumi, a spokesman for the president of the landlocked African nation, which shares a border with Libya, said that Gaddafi's security chief had crossed the desert accompanied by a major Tuareg rebel, Fox News reports.

It was reported earlier that Gaddafi had fled Libya last night in a 250-strong armed convoy including lorries full of gold and cash.

The fallen leader, who ruled Libya for 42 years, was reported to be travelling towards the impoverished west African state of Burkina Faso, which has said it would give him sanctuary, in a deal brokered by South Africa. The report had also claimed that Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam, is said to have accompanied his father, along with lorries laden with gold and cash.

Gaddafi's spokesman, Moussa Ibrahim, had earlier claimed that the fallen dictator would not leave Libya.

"We will prevail in this struggle until victory ... We are still strong, and we can turn the tables over against those traitors and Nato allies. Muammar Gaddafi is in excellent health and in very, very high spirits ... he is in a place that will not be reached by those fractious groups, and he is in Libya," he had insisted. (ANI)