ALGIERS (BNO NEWS) — The wife and several children of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi fled into neighboring Algeria on Monday morning, the Algerian government confirmed.
Gaddafi’s wife, Safia, his pregnant daughter, Aisha, his sons Hannibal and Mohamed, and some of his grandchildren crossed the Algerian-Libyan border at around 8.45 a.m. local time on Monday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced in a statement carried by state-run media.
Rumors had emerged during the weekend that Muammar Gaddafi himself or his family had fled to Algeria, but these rumors were denied by both the Libyan and Algerian government. Monday’s statement indicates that Gaddafi’s family members were still in Libya when the rumors emerged.
The Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it has informed UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the President of the UN Security Council, and the president of the executive board of the National Transitional Council (NTC) of Libya, Mahmoud Djibril, about the development.
The whereabouts of Muammar Gaddafi remain unknown while rebels have seized control of much of the country, including most parts of the Libyan capital of Tripoli. The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague previously charged Muammar Gaddafi and others with crimes against humanity allegedly committed during the conflict.
Libya has been engulfed in a civil war since an uprising against Muammar Gaddafi’s regime began in mid-February, leading to UN Security Council Resolution 1973 which authorized its member states to impose a no-fly zone over the North African country and take ‘all necessary measures’ to protect civilians. Since then, NATO forces have carried out thousands of airstrikes across Libya to aid the rebels.
It is uncertain how many people have been killed, but some estimates put the death toll as high as 20,000. Hundreds of thousands have also fled to neighboring countries over the course of the crisis.
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