Gadhafi still in Libya, interim leader tells Obama

Moammar Gadhafi. AP File Photo

NEW YORK—Libya’s interim leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil told US President Barack Obama Tuesday that fugitive former leader Moammar Gadhafi was still in the country, a US official said.

“Chairman Jalil… said that he believes that Gadhafi is still in Libya,” said Derek Chollet, senior director for strategic planning on the National Security Council, after the two leaders met at the United Nations.

Chollet also said it was important for Libyans to track down Gadhafi in order to move on from his brutal rule.

Earlier, in an audio message broadcast on Syria-based Arrai television, Gadhafi denounced current political events in Libya as a “charade,” which would not last forever.

The deposed despot is believed to be hiding in Libya, although members of his family fled to Algeria and Niger after rebel fighters, backed by a NATO-led air war, overran Tripoli on August 23.