France on Monday dismissed reports that Muammar Gaddafi loyalists had detained 17 Western nationals in Libya.
Media reports quoted Gaddafi's spokesman Moussa Ibrahim as saying on Sunday that "17 foreign mercenaries," mostly technical experts and military advisers, including French and British citizens, had been captured in the city of Beni Walid.
"We have no information to substantiate these rumors," French Foreign Ministry spokesman Romain Nadal said.
Beni Walid, 90 miles south of Tripoli, is still under the control of Gaddafi forces.
The whereabouts of Gaddafi and several of his sons remain unknown. Other family members have fled to Algeria and Niger.
