Gadhafi Daughter Aisha Gives Birth in Algerian Exile: Report
Gadhafi's stranglehold on Libya may be slipping even further as family flees.
Aug. 30, 2011— -- In perhaps the most potent symbol yet that Moammar Gadhafi's family has overstayed its welcome in Libya, the dictator's newest grandchild has been born in Algerian exile after its mother's desperate flight from the country's revolution, Algerian officials said.
Moammar Gadhafi's daughter, Aisha Gadhafi, took refuge in Algeria Monday along with her brothers Mohammed and Hannibal after rebel forces poured into the Libyan capital in search of the dictator and his privileged heirs. Moammar's wife, Safia, also escaped to Algeria in the convoy.
The Algerian government confirmed Gadhafi's kin had entered the country and said they had been accepted on humanitarian grounds. In a letter to the United Nations Security Council obtained by ABC News, the Algerian ambassador informed the U.N. that two vehicles entered Algeria Monday morning carrying the Gadhafi children, "accompanied by their children, one of whom was born the same day without medical assistance."
An unidentified Algerian official told The Washington Post today that child belonged to Aisha and said, "Mother and daughter are doing fine."
Moammar Gadhafi's Children Flee to Algeria Where Daughter Gives Birth
The rebel leadership said Monday it would "demand that Algerian authorities hand them over to Libya to be tried before Libyan courts."
Aisha apparently left in such a hurry she did not have time to pack as she fled her palatial home. In a tour of the home, ABC News cameras discovered a beauty parlor, a spa, huge entertainment rooms, satin sheets on the beds and a gilded bench displaying Aisha's head.
The home, which was previously strictly off-limits to the public, has now been opened for all of Libya to see. In a city with no running water, there was no keeping the local kids out of the massive indoor pool.
The sight of the Libyan leader's daughter's home enraged many Libyans who feel betrayed by the Gadhafi family, who claimed to be "of the people."
Libyans Hunt for Gadhafi and His Children
"How she can sleep? How can she drink? How she can eat?" asked one Libyan woman indignantly.
Aisha Gadhafi, a military official, a former U.N. Goodwill Ambassador and a lawyer, aided the defense in the trial of Saddam Hussein. Hannibal Gadhafi headed the maritime transport company while Mohammed Gadhafi worked on the national Olympic committee.
The search is still on for Gadhafi and his other sons, including Libya's de facto prime minister Saif al-Islam. One of Saif al-Islam's brothers, Saif al-Arab, was killed in an airstrike in April. Rebels claimed to have killed another son, Khamis Gadhafi, the head of Libya's elite military unit the Khamis Brigade, over the weekend -- the third time Khamis has publicly been declared dead.
One rumored location for Gadhafi and his boys is Sirte, Gadhafi's hometown. As rebel forces bear down on the port city, they issued a direct warning to any pro-Gadhafi forces there: drop your weapons or prepare for a violent military offensive.
In military barracks in Tripol, there was evidence that Gadhafi's soldiers allegedly carried out mass murder as the regime collapsed over the past six months. In a Libyan prison, there were remains of close to 100 charred bodies of supporters of the revolution. A survivor who managed to escape said they were told they were being freed.
"When a Gadhafi soldier unlocked the door, other guards started shooting," he said. "Others threw in grenades."
The bodies have now been removed for identification and burial, but there are still thousands of other prisoners who are missing and unaccounted for -- some are believed to be held in secret prisons. A desperate search has begun to find them.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
