Libya: Gadhafi Family Flees; Next Contact Group Meeting

The Algerian government has confirmed that family members of Muammar Gadhafi have arrived in the country. The Algerian foreign ministry said, “the wife of Muammar Gaddafi, Safia, his daughter Aisha, and sons Hannibal and Mohammed, accompanied by their children, entered Algeria at 08:45am local time [0745GMT] through the Algeria-Libyan border.” A Transitional National Council (TNC) spokesperson, Mahmoud Shamman, said the TNC would seek the extradition of Gadhafi’s family members. Shamman said, “we have promised to provide a just trial to all those criminals and therefore we consider this an act of aggression,”

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will travel to Paris on Thursday for the next meeting of the Libya Contact Group. In a statement, State Department Spokesperson Victoria Nuland said, “The Paris meeting will build on the productive Libya Contact Group meeting in Istanbul on August 25 and will provide the international community with an opportunity to further coordinate our financial and political support for the TNC.” Later, during the Daily Briefing, Nuland said, “the international community is going to be looking forward to a report from the TNC in Paris on its needs in the areas of governance, security, humanitarian, economic reconstruction, and talking about how we can all play our part to support those efforts, including through the UN structures.”