Interpol issues Red Notice warrants for Gadhafi

Interpol issued Red Notice arrest warrants Friday for fallen Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, who is wanted for alleged crimes against humanity.
Warrants also were issued for one of his sons, Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, and a brother-in-law, Abdullah Al-Senussi, who served as the regime's intelligence chief. They are also wanted for alleged killings and persecution in the Libyan uprising that erupted in February.
A Red Notice allows Interpol, the international police agency, to widely circulate arrest warrants with an intention to extradite suspects to the International Criminal Court.
The notices were issued after Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the prosecutor of the criminal court, asked Interpol to take the step.
"Moammar Gadhafi is a fugitive whose country of nationality and the International Criminal Court want arrested and held accountable for the serious criminal charges that have been brought against him," said Interpol Secretary General Ronald Noble.
The request "will significantly restrict the ability of all three men to cross international borders and is a powerful tool to help in their location and arrest," he said.
French Defense Minister Gerard Longuet told journalists Friday that France believes Gadhafi is still in Libyan territory. But he said that if Gadhafi were to go to neighboring Niger, he would find a sanctuary there.
A senior U.S. official told CNN on Thursday that the United States does not know where Gadhafi is and does not believe the National Transitional Council has a lock on his whereabouts either.
That information came after Anees al-Sharif, a spokesman for the new Tripoli Military Council, said anti-Gadhafi fighters had cornered the fallen Libyan leader and that he had no means of escape. Al-Sharif did not divulge a location.
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said earlier this week that officials believe Gadhafi is on the run. "I don't have any information as to exactly where he's located," he said.
Two Libyan convoys passed through Niger earlier this week, officials in that country said.
Initial speculation was that Gadhafi was in one of those groups, but on Thursday a second senior U.S. official said the United States now has a list of officials from Libya who were in both convoys.
There were "no marquee names," or anyone who was named in U.N. Security Council resolutions, the second source said. The official would not say who was in the convoys, only that Gadhafi's security chief was not among them, refuting reports that said he left in the convoy.
The Nigerien government is talking to the NTC about what the new Libyan leadership wants to do with those in the convoy but the NTC hasn't decided whether it's worth it to bring them back, the source said.
A third convoy carrying "high-ranking Libyan refugees" entered the Nigerien city of Agadez on Thursday night, according to Mohamed Anako, head of the city's regional council.
Fourteen people arrived in three vehicles. Three Libyan generals, family members and low-ranking Gadhafi regime military and security personnel arrived as "civilians," Anako said.
Among them is Ali Kana, a Libyan Tuareg. The nomadic Tuaregs are spread across several countries, and Gadhafi often turned to them to bolster his forces.
The group is now resting in a hotel and they plan to head to Niamey, the capital, where they are expected to formally request refugee status.
Libyans are leading the search for Gadhafi. The Central Intelligence Agency has agents in the area, and the United Kingdom, France, Jordan and Qater have special forces in the country as well, NATO and U.S. defense officials tell CNN. However, the mission of those agents is not necessarily focused on hunting for Gadhafi.
In Washington, Capt. John Kirby, spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, insisted Thursday that the U.S. mission in Libya is to protect citizens and "is not about capturing or finding Col. Gadhafi."
Questions about Gadhafi's whereabouts intensified after the fall of Tripoli and reports that his wife, daughter, two sons and other family members fled to neighboring Algeria, which described its acceptance of the family as a humanitarian gesture.

Saif al-Islam Gadhafi is believed to be in Sirte, one of the last pro-Gadhafi strongholds in Libya, said the first senior U.S. official. He also had been spotted in Bani Walid, one of the last loyalist strongholds, according to the NTC chief negotiator for the city, Abdallah Kenshill.

CNN's Jim Bittermann and Umaro Djau contributed to this report