Gaddafi son Saif fleeing towards Niger – NTC officer

LONDON,  (Reuters) – Muammar Gaddafi’s son Saif  al-Islam is fleeing south from Sirte towards Libya’s border with  Niger, a senior military commander of the interim National  Transitional Council (NTC) said today.
Abdul Majid Mlegta told Reuters that Islam was believed to  travelling in a convoy of three armoured vehicles to try to  escape NTC forces that overran Sirte yesterday and killed his  father, Libya’s deposed former ruler.
“We are searching for him. The fighters in the region are on  full alert,” Mlegta said.
Gaddafi was captured alive in his hometown of Sirte yesterday but died later while in the hands of fighters in  circumstances that are still not clear. Islam is believed to  have fled Sirte at about the same time.
Dozens of Gaddafi loyalists, including one of his sons  Saadi, fled to Niger in September and are being sheltered in  Niamey.
Niger has resisted appeals for them to be handed over to  Libya’s new rulers, saying Tripoli could send investigators if  it wanted to question them.
Megta said that in recent days Gaddafi’s security chief  Abdullah al-Senussi, believed to be hiding in Niger, had been  trying to organise some form of safe passage from Sirte to Niger  for Gaddafi’s entourage.
Yesterday Niger’s foreign minister Mohammed Bazoum said he  had been informed by Western countries that Senussi had fled  across the border into the far north of Niger.
Senussi is wanted by the International Criminal Court for  crimes against humanity.