Gaddafi’s wife and three children welcomed ‘on humanitarian grounds' in Algeria

The arrival of Gaddafi's wife Safia, daughter Ayesha, and sons Muhammad and Hannibal, children in Algeria had been reported to the UN and to Libyan rebel authorities, the Algerian foreign ministry said in a statement reported by Algeria's APS news agency.

It said they had crossed the border between Libya and Algeria at 08:45 local time (07:45 GMT) on Monday.

The BBC reports that first word of the move had already come from Libyan rebel headquarters two days ago that a convoy of armoured vehicles had crossed the border into Algeria.

Algerian authorities denied that any such convoy had crossed the border.

Considered a sympathiser to the Gaddafi regime, Algeria has been long-seen as a first refuge of choice for Gaddafi and his family. The Algerian has still not recognised the rebel National Transitional Council (NTC).

"They have been greeted on humanitarian grounds," Algeria's ambassador to the UN, Mourad Benmehidi, was reported as saying by the BBC World Service.

"The holy rule of hospitality in our culture is something that one has to keep in mind, especially in the desert region where it's a duty to provide assistance to anyone."

However NTC spokesman Mahmoud Shamman reacted harshly.

"I cannot confirm it, but I can comment that, especially for Hannibal, if he fled to Algiers and the Algerian authorities allowed him to do that, we'll consider this as an aggressive act against the Libyan people's wish,” he said. “

“We're going to use all the means to get him back and try him, put him in a court and try him. This is our aim.”

He also said that “we would give everybody of the Gaddafi family a fair trial and we can guarantee that. Other than that, we don't encourage other countries to harbour them, to harbour him [Muammar Gaddafi] or his family and we'll consider any act of that as an aggression act against the wish of the Libyan people."”

Muhammad and Hannibal are two of the sons with the least involvement in politics.

Rebels had previously suggested that other sons may be in or close to the Gaddafi stronghold of Sirte.

The whereabouts of Gaddafi himself, so far, remain unknown.