Members of fugitive Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi's entourage, including his internal security chief Mansour Daw, have crossed the border into Niger, sources told AFP Monday.

A Nigerien government source said that the fugitive ex-Libyan leader was not in the group of 11 Libyans.

"Moamer Kadhafi was not part of the delegation that arrived in Niger, which consisted of three Nigeriens: Agaly Alambo and two of his brothers and 11 Libyans, among them Mansour Daw," the government source said.

"The 11 Libyans will be housed in Niamey and we have taken measures to this effect," added a security source.

The Libyans arrived in the northern Niger city of Agadez escorted by Alambo, a historical leader in Niger's Tuareg rebellion with close ties to Kadhafi.

"In any case, these people who came with Agaly (Alambo) are neither Kadhafi's sons nor his close relatives," a Tuareg source told AFP on condition of anonymity, adding that all had since reached the capital Niamey.

Alambo, head of the Niger Movement for Justice, the country's main Tuareg rebel group since 2007, had been living in Libya since Kadhafi brokered an end to his fight against Niamey in 2009.

When Western powers backed Libya's own rebel movement earlier this year, Alambo recruited hundreds of former rebels from Niger to fight alongside Kadhafi, whom many Tuaregs across the region see as their champion.

Last week, a Tuareg source said that people close to Kadhafi had arrived in Agadez in April with suitcases full of money to recruit "hundreds" of young people.

The source said about 1,500 Tuareg ex-rebels had fought for Kadhafi.

But since the fall of Tripoli to fighters loyal to Libya's National Transitional Council, hundreds of Tuareg fighters have returned to Niger, while about 500 withdrew to Sirte, Kadhafi's hometown.

Niger last month formally recognised the NTC as its neighbour's only legal authority and urged the new leaders to safeguard the security of foreigners living in Libya.

Thousands of Tuaregs had taken refuge in Libya following the rebellions which have hit Mali and Niger over the past two decades.

Niger's President Mahamadou Issoufou, elected in March, was considered an ally of Kadhafi and the two last met in Tripoli in February.

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