Libya’s new leaders ask Niger to stop Gaddafi crossing border

Libya's new leaders will seek Niger's help to stop Muammar Gaddafi, his family or his troops from crossing the border.

Niger has indicated that it may provide a safe haven for Gaddafi as Libyan rebels claimed to have surrounded him at Bani Walid, south east of the capital Tripoli.

Niger's government said it would not automatically refuse Gaddafi temporary asylum, London's Telegraph reported.

Niger's Foreign Minister, Mohamed Bazoum, said Niger would not actively invite him, but ''of course he can cross into Niger and we will decide what to do if that is the case. We cannot stop him from coming''.

Asked if Niger might close its border, Mr Bazoum added: ''We have no means to close the border … It is too big.''

This comes as Gaddafi released an audio message on Syrian-based TV station Arrai saying he had not fled the country.

A member of the Libyan National Transitional Council, Fathi Baja, said its envoys would travel to Niamey, the capital of Niger, to demand assurances that Gaddafi would not escape to the country.

But the Niger government has only limited presence in a northern desert region troubled by bandits, and a growing number of al-Qaeda-linked gunmen, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

Rebel forces are poised to battle loyalist troops still holding out in their remaining strongholds of Bani Walid, Sabha in the deep south and the coastal city of Sirte, Gaddafi's home town.

They said they had taken control of the town Waddan, on the highway to Sirte, as part of an attempt to push his loyalists out of their last strongholds.

Qassem Azzoz, Libya's central bank governor, says Gaddafi sold more than 20 per cent of Libya's gold reserves, worth more than $US1 billion, in the final days of his regime, and was expected to have been sent to Tunisia, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

''The gold was liquidated in order to pay salaries and to have liquidity, in Tripoli in particular,'' Mr Azzoz said.

De facto premier Mahmud Jibril used his first major address in Tripoli to warn that the hardest battles were yet to come as negotiations broke down for loyalists to surrender as the Saturday deadline looms, AFP reports.

Jibril also warned that its troops would return to the offensive sooner than Saturday if they continued to come under attack.

"We have the right to defend ourselves even before the deadline," he said after NTC troops besieging Bani Walid, southeast of Tripoli, came under rocket fire from old regime loyalists inside the oasis town, AFP reports.

"Unfortunately, this chance was violated and exploited by putting more soldiers and fomenting Libyans to kill each other. We don't really see that the other side truly wants to take a chance and avoid bloodshed," Jibril said.