The crumbling regime of Moammar Gadhafi has reportedly seen senior officials abruptly depart Libyan soil and cross over into neighbouring Niger.
A series of convoys carried droves of armed loyalists and about a dozen regime officials across the border on Tuesday.
A customs official said one convoy that travelled to Niger's capital city of Niamey carried Mansour Dao, who has served as Gadhafi's security chief.
Niger's finance minister, Bazoum Mohamed, said Gadhafi was not among the convoys that have crossed the border.
Meanwhile, a Gadhafi spokesperson claimed the absent dictator is "in excellent health" and intends to fight his way back to power.
Moussa Ibrahim told a Syrian TV station Tuesday that Gadhafi and his sons remain in Libya, where the spokesman said "we are fighting and resisting for the sake of Libya and all Arabs."
Ibrahim said "we are still strong and capable of turning the tables on NATO."
While Gadhafi's whereabouts remained unknown on Tuesday, Libyan rebels focused on advancing negotiations with remaining loyalists in the Libyan city of Bani Walid.
Bani Walid lies about 140 kilometres southeast of Tripoli and the rebels sought to assure the city's residents Tuesday that they were not there to take revenge.
"The revolutionaries have not come here to humiliate anyone. We are all here to listen," said Abdullah Kenshil, the chief rebel negotiator, at the start of a meeting with tribal elders in Bani Walid.
Rebel fighters are also positioned about 40 kilometres outside of Sirte, the toppled dictator's hometown in eastern Libya and one of the possible locations where Gadhafi could be hiding out.
Fadl-Allah Haron, a rebel commander, told The Associated Press that the people living in Sirte are being intimidated by some of Gadhafi's remaining forces.
"The mercenaries and Gadhafi forces are threatening people, taking over the rooftops of their houses to places snipes," Haron told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.
"The people in Sirte are willing to join us but the mercenaries are threatening them."
With files from The Associated Press
