Libya conflict: Troop convoy crosses border into Niger

The convoy is believed to be carrying mainly Tuareg fighters recruited by fugitive Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi to fight for his regime.

Niger's foreign minister is quoted as saying Col Gaddafi was not in the convoy. On Monday, his spokesman insisted he was still in Libya.

The new Libyan authorities say the convoy was carrying gold and money.

Col Gaddafi has vowed to fight to the death, even though he has lost control of most of the country.

Tuareg ties

The armed convoy, which arrived in the town of Agadez late on Monday, is now heading for Niger's capital, Niamey.

Niamey lies in Niger's extreme south-west, 950km (600 miles) from Agadez and close to the border with Burkina Faso, which has offered Col Gaddafi asylum.

Officials from Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC) said the convoy had set out from the Gaddafi-held town of Jufra on Monday.

"Vehicles carrying gold, euros and dollars crossed from Jufra into Niger with the help of Tuaregs from the Niger tribe," Fathi Baja from the NTC told Reuters.

Another NTC spokesman, Jalal al-Gallal, put the number of vehicles at about 200, and told AFP news agency: "We can't confirm who was in this convoy."

The BBC's Kevin Connolly, in the Libyan capital Tripoli, says there is speculation that the convoy could be carrying members of Col Gaddafi's entourage, as the desert route is the likeliest way for them to escape troops loyal to the NTC.

Many Tuareg former rebels from Mali and Niger were trained in Libya in the 1970s and 80s.

Col Gaddafi helped broker a peace accord in 2009 between the government of Niger and a Tuareg rebel group led by Rissa ag Boula, who then took refuge in Libya; Kazinform cites BBC.

To learn more go to www.bbc.co.uk