ALGIERS - Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC) Chairman Mostafa Abdel Jalil's aide Ahmed Gabriel said Monday the council would demand the Algerian government hand over Muammar Gadhafi's family so that they could be tried in Libyan courts, local media said.

Algeria's Foreign Ministry told a press conference Monday that Gadhafi's wife and three of his children entered Algeria Monday morning, the nation's official Algeria Press Service (APS) reported. However, it did not mention the whereabouts of Gadhafi himself.

"Muammar Gadhafi's wife Safia, his daughter Aisha, his sons Hannibal and Mohammed, accompanied by their children, entered Algeria at 8:45 a.m. (0745 GMT) through the Algerian-Libyan border," the APS said, citing a Foreign Ministry statement.

According to the statement, the Algerian government informed the UN and NTC about the Gadhafis' arrival.

Algeria's Arabian-language newspaper Echorouk reported that a total of 31 persons including the Gadhafis, their servants and drivers in seven SUVs entered Algeria from western Libya. They waited 12 hours on the border to get permission to enter the country.

The newspaper said Gadhafi's daughter Aisha is weak, being in the ninth month of her pregnancy, and that the Algerian government let the motorcade in probably on humanitarian grounds.

It also said that Algeria is not violating any international laws or UN rules as the International Criminal Court had only issued arrest warrants for Gadhafi, his son Saif al-Islam Gadhafi and intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi, who were not in the motorcade.

Some local sources said the Gadhafis will very likely stay in Algeria's southeastern province of Illizi, which borders Libya, and not head to the capital Algiers.