BBC News with Marion Marshall

Rebel leaders in Libya say they believe Colonel Gaddafi may still be hiding somewhere near the capital Tripoli. It's the first

indication

from the opposition of where they think the ousted leader may be. Jon Leyne reports from Benghazi.

Shamsuddin Ben Ali, director of communications for the opposition National Transitional Council, said they believed that Colonel Gaddafi was most likely still in the Tripoli area.

The spokesman said that if Colonel Gaddafi had escaped the capital, he could have fled to the Algerian border.

Algeria is the last of the neighbouring countries that might give him

sanctuary

. Already, said the spokesman, it's possible that Colonel Gaddafi's wife and daughter may have fled there, though earlier reports of a heavily armoured convoy of six cars making its way across the border have been denied on all sides.

The opposition do not think Colonel Gaddafi himself has left the country, nor do they think he's in his hometown of Sirte, where his supporters are putting up a tough stand against opposition fighters.

More evidence is emerging of atrocities during the battle for Tripoli. The French news agency AFP is reporting more than 50 charred skeletons at a

makeshift

prison in the south of the city.

President Obama has warned Americans they are facing a tough slog to

cope with

a hurricane that's raging its way up the east coast of the United States. The president was speaking to emergency officials responding to Hurricane Irene, which has already caused floods and brought down power lines in North Carolina.