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Libya's rebel leader on Tuesday gave forces loyal to Muammar Gadhafi a four-day deadline to surrender towns still under their control or risk a military showdown.

Libya's rebels were seeking the return from Algeria of Gadhafi's wife and three children on Tuesday, while hunting down the long-time Libyan leader and closing in on his hometown Sirte.

"We' d like those persons to come back," rebels' spokesman Mahmud Shammam said after Algiers on Monday announced that Gadhafi's wife Safiya, two sons, a daughter and their children, had crossed the border into the country.

"The wife of Muammar Gadhafi, Safiya, his daughter Aisha, and sons Hannibal and Mohammed, accompanied by their children, entered Algeria at 8:45 am local time through the Algeria-Libyan border," the Algerian foreign ministry said in a statement carried by the state APS news agency, giving no information on the whereabouts of Gadhafi himself.

The ministry said that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the Security Council and No 2 leader of the rebels' NTC, Mahmud Jibril, had been informed.

So far Algeria has not recognized the NTC and has adopted a stance of strict neutrality on the Libyan conflict, leading some among the rebels to accuse it of supporting the Gadhafi government.

Rebel chief Mustafa Abdel Jalil urged the international coalition to continue its action against the Libyan leader.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is to visit Paris on Thursday for an international Contact Group meeting on Libya in a bid to boost financial and economic support for the rebels, the State Department said.

The White House said it did not know Gadhafi's whereabouts but had no indication he had left Libya.

（中国日报网英语点津 Julie 编辑）

About the broadcaster:

Lee Hannon is Chief Editor at China Daily with 15-years experience in print and broadcast journalism. Born in England, Lee has traveled extensively around the world as a journalist including four years as a senior editor in Los Angeles. He now lives in Beijing and is happy to move to China and join the China Daily team.