Gaddafi “considering exile in Burkina Faso” via Niger: report
Militants of the Support Movement to the Libyan People hold placards of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi during a demonstration to support him in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, on May 7, 2011. There are reports that Gaddafi is heading into exile in Burkina Faso, which has offered the Gaddafi family asylum.
Muammar Gaddafi may be considering seeking exile in Burkina Faso — a landlocked West African country that has offered him asylum — via the neighboring country of Niger, Reuters reports.
There are reports that a convoy of Gaddafi loyalists have arrived in the Sahara Desert town of Agadez, in Niger, accompanied by a Nigerien army escort. Reuters says that Gaddafi and his son Saif al-Islam may be considering joining the convoy and continuing through Niger into Burkina Faso in the southwest.
However, Burkina Faso's government is unaware of any immediate plan by the deposed Libyan leader or his entourage to arrive in their country, Reuters reports, citing an unnamed source close to the presidency.
Burkina Faso, which has previously received large amounts of Libyan aid, has already offered the Gaddafi family asylum.
Reuters also reports that France may have arranged a deal between the new Libyan government and Gaddafi that would see him head into exile in Burkina Faso, a former French colony.
The convoy that has crossed from Libya into Niger reportedly includes dozens of military vehicles — as many as 250, according to some reports — and is carrying Gaddafi loyalists as well as cash and gold.
Gaddafi’s internal security chief, Mansour Daw, crossed into Niger on Sunday, according to the Nigerien military.
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