Hunted Gaddafi son 'has left Libya and seeks plane'

Colonel Gaddafi's fugitive son Saif al-Islam has crossed the Libyan border into Niger and is trying to find a plane to take him to The Hague, it was reported today.

A Libyan National Transitional Council official said Saif, fearing for his life if captured by the new Libyan regime, wants safe custody with the International Criminal Court.

Since his father's death at the hands of rebel fighters a week ago, the 39-year-old is reported to have taken refuge among Saharan nomads.

The NTC official said: "There is a contact with Mali and with South Africa and with another neighbouring country to organise his exit...He hasn't got confirmation yet, he's still waiting."

Even if Saif can still draw on some of the vast fortune the Gaddafi clan built up abroad during 42 years in control of North Africa's main oilfields, his indictment by the ICC over his part in trying to crush this year's revolt limits his options. That may explain an apparent willingness, in communications monitored by intelligence services and shared with Libya's interim rulers, to discuss a surrender to the ICC, whereas his mother and surviving siblings simply fled to Algeria and Niger.

The ICC said it was trying to confirm the whereabouts and intentions of Saif and former intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi, the third man indicted along with Muammar Gaddafi.

An NTC source claimed both were together, protected by Tuareg nomads: "Saif is concerned about his safety. He believes handing himself over is the best option. He wants to be sent an aircraft. He wants assurances."

Rhissa Ag Boula, a former Tuareg rebel leader who is now a presidential adviser in Niger, said: "Abdullah al-Senussi is now in northern Mali. As for Saif, he is hesitant and is indeed in Niger. He is trying to decide whether to continue to Mali or stay in Niger."