Algiers denies Libyan armoured cars entered Algeria

Algeria on Saturday formally denied that a convoy of armoured cars that could be carrying top Libyan regime officials had crossed its borders. "This information is baseless and we deny it categorically," the foreign ministry said following a report by Egypt's official news agency. The unconfirmed MENA report said six armoured Mercedes had Friday morning entered Ghadames, quoting a Libyan military council source in the town on the border with Algeria. The source was quoted as saying the convoy had been escorted by pro-government troops until it entered Algeria. Rebels had not been able to pursue the vehicles as they lacked munitions and equipment. "We think they (the cars) were carrying high Libyan officials, possibly (Moamer) Kadhafi and his sons," the source said. Kadhafi has been on the run since the rebels took the Libyan capital Tripoli earlier this week. An Algerian border official earlier said the reported crossing was unlikely as no such sighting had been reported by local residents, although he confirmed the border post of Debdeb in the Ghadames area was open. Libya's rebel government prime minister Mahmud Jibril, in Cairo for talks with his Egyptian counterpart Essam Sharaf and military ruler Hussein Tantawi, said the report was "unconfirmed". "Nothing is confirmed," he told reporters after his meetings. NATO declined to confirm or deny the reported crossing "As a matter of policy, we do not comment on intelligence matters," Colonel Roland Lavoie, the spokesman of the NATO mission in Libya, told AFP in an email. Algeria declined to recognise the Libyan rebels' National Transitional Council on Friday, insisting it would adhere to the policy of "strict neutrality" adopted since the start of the conflict.