Muammar Gaddafi is believed to be hiding near the western town of Ghadamis near the Algerian border under the protection of Tawareq tribesmen, a senior Libyan military official said. \"One tribe, the Tawareq, is still supporting him and he is believed to be in the Ghadamis area in the south,\" Hisham Buhagiar, a senior military official of the Libya\'s new leadership, told Reuters by telephone late on Tuesday. Buhagiar, coordinator of the hunt for Gaddafi, said the ousted Libyan leader was believed to have been in the southern town of Samnu a week ago before moving to Ghadamis, which lies 550 km (345 miles) southwest of Tripoli. He said Gaddafi\'s son Saif Al Islam was in Bani Walid and another son, Mutassem, was in Sirte, the family\'s home town.