The wife and three children of fugitive¹ Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi are in Algeria, Algerian officials say.

阿尔及利亚官员称，利比亚流亡领导人卡扎菲的妻子和三个孩子现在已经逃亡至阿尔及利亚。

Col Gaddafi’s wife, two of his sons and his daughter are said to be in Algeria
A foreign ministry² statement said Col Gaddafi's wife Safia, daughter Ayesha and sons Muhammad and Hannibal left Libya early on Monday.

Algeria's UN ambassador said they were received on humanitarian³ grounds.

Meanwhile rebels said they had uncovered four mass graves in recent days.

The BBC's Andrew Hosken, who visited one of the sites in south-east Tripoli, said they were believed to contain the corpses⁴（尸体） of army officers who refused to fight for Col Gaddafi.

The site is near the barracks of the army brigade headed by Col Gaddafi's son Khamis, who rebels said may have been killed in a clash near Bani Walid.

The reports came as Libyan rebels were trying to overcome the pockets of resistance by Gaddafi loyalists, and preparing to advance on Col Gaddafi's birthplace, Sirte.

Col Gaddafi's own whereabouts（下落，行踪） are unknown.

Obvious refuge

The arrival of Col Gaddafi's wife and three children in Algeria had been reported to the UN and to Libyan rebel authorities, the Algerian foreign ministry said in a statement carried 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's Jon Leyne in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi said first word of such a move had already come from Libyan rebel headquarters two days ago, and that at the time, Algerian authorities denied that a convoy⁵ of six heavily armoured vehicles had crossed the border.

Algeria is an obvious refuge（避难） for the Gaddafi family as the two countries have a long border and the Algerian government has still not recognised the rebel National Transitional Council (NTC), our correspondent says.

"They have been greeted on humanitarian grounds," Algeria's ambassador to the UN, Mourad Benmehidi, told 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."

But NTC spokesman Mahmoud Shamman said: "This would be an act of aggression⁶ against the Libyan people and against the wishes of the Libyan people.

"We will use all legal means to seek the return of these criminals and to bring them to justice in Libya."

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

Rebels had previously⁷ suggested that other sons may be in or close to the Gaddafi stronghold of Sirte.