His flight reduces the retinue of close family members sticking by Col Gaddafi to just two sons, Saif al-Islam and Mutassim, and his closest aide and brother-in-law, Abdullah Senussi.
Marou Amadou, the Niger justice minister, confirmed he had crossed the two countries’ Saharan border in a convoy of vehicles and been intercepted by local troops.
He said the convoy was continuing to the northern town of Agadez and from there to the capital Niamey, where a number of Touareg tribal leaders formerly loyal to Col Gaddafi have also sought refuge in recent weeks.
His flight will be a further blow to the confidence of those troops remaining loyal to the old regime. Earlier in the day, rebels made advances on the two remaining loyalist hold-outs in northern Libya after a string of Nato bombing raids.
Saadi was one of the more westernised of Col Gaddafi’s family, though no less capricious that the rest. A former footballer, he played twice for Italian Serie A teams, though he was banned for failing a drugs test.
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