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Algeria to close southern border with Libya: report Shortly after Algeria gave passage to Gaddafi's wife and three children, it is said they will shut their border with 'precarious' Libya
Algeria is to close the southern part of its border with Libya, a local newspaper reported on Tuesday, the day after Algeria angered Libya's new rulers by giving safe haven to members of Muammar Gaddafi's family. Algeria announced on Monday that Gaddafi's wife, two of his sons and his daughter had crossed into its territory, prompting Libya's ruling interim council to demand that they be handed back to face trial. Algeria's El Watan newspaper, quoting diplomatic sources, said an instruction had gone out to security services to close the southern part of the border with Libya, because of the "precarious situation" in Libya. The Algerian government could not immediately be reached for comment. Algeria's border with Libya is hundreds of kilometres long and stretches through vast expanses of empty desert. Algerian officials say they are concerned that Islamist militants have infiltrated Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC), and that Al-Qaeda's North African wing will exploit the chaos in Libya to acquire weapons and explosives. The NTC has angrily denied those charges and, in turn, accuses Algeria of siding with Muammar Gaddafi during Libya's civil war, something the Algerian authorities deny. The whereabouts of Gaddafi, deposed by the NTC after 42 years in power, are unknown.
