Gaddafi denies reports he fled to Niger

Muammar Gaddafi has issued an audio message encouraging Libyans to take up arms against the fighters battling his loyalists and accusing the National Transitional Council (NTC), currently running the country, of being a front for Western powers.
The message from the deposed Libyan leader was broadcast early on Thursday on Syria-based Al-Rai TV.
"To all my beloved Libyans, the Libyan land is yours and you need to defend it against all those traitors, the dogs, those that have been in Libya and are trying to take over the land," Gaddafi said.
"They were spies for the Italians and now they are spies for France. All those germs and rats ... capture all those who are working with NATO and the UK to bomb our country and kill Libyans and our children."
Gaddafi also dismissed reports that he had fled to neighbouring Niger as "psychological warfare and lies".
He said there was nothing unusual about a convoy of cars going to Niger.
"How many times do convoys transporting smugglers, traders and people cross the border every day for Sudan, Chad, Mali and Algeria," Gaddafi said. "As if this was the first time a convoy was headed towards Niger."
The president of Burkina Faso has also deined that Gaddafi is in his country.
"We don't have any information on the presence of Libyans on our territory since these events started," he said.
On the ground, Libyan fighters claimed on Wednesday to have got Gaddafi surrounded within a 60km radius.
Anis Sharif, a spokesman for Tripoli's new military council, however, would not say where exactly Gaddafi had been found.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/09/20119813848107476.html