Several mercenaries were arrested in the western city of Zawiya and the Bab El Aziziah compound in Tripoli, said the magazine which focuses on international issues and regional conflicts.

The NTC source added that the Council ordered these mercenaries to be sent to Benghazi pending the arrest of the rest of polisario’s elements in Libya.

The NTC’s decision was taken following the rebels attack on August 22 against the Algerian Embassy in Tripoli.

Inside the Algerian chancellery, the rebels found documents attesting to Algeria’s military and logistical support for the Gaddafi regime, underscored the NTC source.

The NTC noted that beside the 556 arrested mercenaries, other polisario members had been killed in fighting or fled following the general confusion after the collapse of the Gaddafi regime.

The deployment of polisario mercenaries to fight alongside Gaddafi had caused tensions between the NTC and Algeria since the beginning of the revolution, added the website, noting that the Benghazi-based Council was the first to accuse Algerian officials of supporting the Libyan dictator by sending polisario mercenaries.

Last March, Ali Richi, a former Migration Minister who joined the rebels, had denounced that the polisario mercenaries fight for Gaddafi troops, recalled the web site, adding that the NATO has corroborated this on the basis of statements by former officials who have defected to the rebels.