You're reading: Uganda’s official: Gadhafi hasn’t asked for asylum

MOSCOW — Uganda's senior official says Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi has not asked for a political asylum in his country.

Ugandan Security Minister Amama Mbabazi, who was meeting with Russia’s foreign minister in Moscow on Thursday, told reporters that local authorities have therefore not formally made any offer to him.

Western powers are keeping up the pressure to force Gadhafi out with airstrikes while diplomats are attempting to persuade Libya’s leader of 40 years to leave the country without military force.

Uganda on Wednesday became the first country to publicly offer Gadhafi refuge. The spokesman for Uganda’s president, Tamale Mirundi, told the AP that the Libyan leader would be welcome there.