Gaddafi nowhere to be found, but son in Niger 'custody'

Muammar Gaddafi's son Saadi was under guard in the Niger capital today after fleeing Libya over the weekend but NATO acknowledged it has no idea where his fugitive father is holed up.

The alliance stressed that the toppled strongman was not a target in the daily bombing campaign it has kept up against his remaining forces as the World Bank formally recognised Libya's new leaders and pledged to play a major role in their post-war reconstruction efforts.

Saadi Gaddafi, 38, the third of Gaddafi's seven sons, is among 32 officials of the ousted regime, three of them top generals, who have fled through the desert to neighbouring Niger this month.

He was flown into the capital Niamey late yesterday after being put on an air force Hercules C-130 transport plane from the northwestern town of Agadez, Nigerien officials said.

He had been put up in the governor's residence in the desert town with eight close associates of his father after they crossed into Niger on Sunday.

Washington accepted Niamey's assurances that Saadi Gaddafi, who commanded an elite army unit after a brief career as a professional footballer in Italy, was in the custody of Nigerien security forces.

"Our understanding is, like the others, he's being detained in a state guest house," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

"It's essentially a house arrest in this government facility, is our understanding," she added.

NATO said it had no idea whether Gaddafi himself had also fled his country.