Niger tells AT it will hand Gaddafi elite to ICC

Muammar Gaddafi has denied reports that he has fled to Niger The ousted Libyan President, Muammar Gaddafi has denied reports that he has fled to Niger. In a telephone call to a Syrian television station, the besieged leader dismissed the reports as “lies” and “psychological warfare.”"They claimed I left to Niger so they can weaken you and destroy your morale."
Gaddafi claimed to have made the phone call from inside Libya. He says he will not leave the country. He has encouraged Libyans to take up arms against their new government.
"To all my beloved Libyans, the Libyan land is yours and you need to defend it against all those traitors, the dogs, those that have been in Libya and are trying to take over the land," Gaddafi said.
He claimed that loyalists would continue to fight.
“We are ready in Tripoli and everywhere to intensify attacks against the rats, the mercenaries, who are a pack of dogs,” he said.
Gaddafi also stated that there was nothing unusual about the large convoys that have crossed the border from Libya into Niger in recent days, although Niger’s government has confirmed that the convoys have included members of the Gaddafi elite, including Gaddafi’s security chief, Mansour Daw.
Despite rumours, it is not believed that the convoy contained Gaddafi or his sons.
Niger has also confirmed that Gaddafi and his sons are not within its borders.
Gaddafi promised that his forces would defeat NATO and Libya’s new government, the National Transitional Council (NTC).
"The youths are now ready to escalate the resistance against the 'rats' [rebels] in Tripoli and to finish off the mercenaries," he said.
"NATO will be defeated by force because its financial ability is not enough to proceed with the shelling."
Yesterday, Niger’s Foreign Minister informed Arabs Today that Niger would uphold its international obligations and hand members of the Gaddafi elite to the International Criminal Court (ICC) if they entered Niger.
However, the NTC believes that Gaddafi remains in Libya, possibly in the country’s south.
Hisham Buhagiar, who is co-ordinating the NTC efforts to find the former Libyan leader, said.
"It is the tent. We know that he does not want to stay in a house, so he stays in a tent. People say the cars came, and then they made a tent," Buhagiar said, although he acknowledged that his sources had not personally seen Gaddafi.
Negotiations continue in Loyalist towns
Negotiations continue in Bani Walid, Jufra, Sabha, and Gaddafi’s hometown of Sirte.
However, the NTC told CNN on Wednesday that they had started their advance into Bani Walid after negotiations failed.
Loyalists are believed to have demanded that rebel forces entered the city unarmed, refrained from searching houses and fully pardoned the people of Bani Walid.
Shamsaddin Ben Ali, an NTC spokesman said, "We won't grant amnesty because there are people with blood on their hands, and we want them to face a trial."
"I predict fighting to resume on Saturday."
UN praises Arab Spring
Meanwhile, the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Thursday that the UN supports the “revolution of hope” in North Africa.
“Across North Africa and beyond, a revolution of hope has taken hold,” he said, highlighting events in Libya, Syria and the Ivory Coast.