Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has held an urgent meeting with senior security and army officers on the aftermath of Libyan rebels' reported seizure of their capital Tripoli, local media reported Tuesday.

The Arabic daily El Khabar newspaper quoted a "well informed" source as saying that the overnight meeting starting late Saturday concluded by setting up a joint security committee in charge of following the situation in Libya on the basis of security reports and dealing with the developments on the border in direct coordination with President Bouteflika and National Army Chief of Staff General Ahmed Gaid Salah.

The source said the meeting discussed the probable expansion of battles to the area near the Libyan border with Algeria, amid reports ascertaining the existence of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's forces in Ghadames, some 150 km from the Algerian border.

The meeting adopted a recommendation by the army chief of staff to close the border crossing points with Libya, except the Debdeb crossing, and counter any attempt of infiltration, said the source.

Meanwhile, the army has raised the land forces' alert to the maximum level since Sunday near the border with Libya. The army also launched multiplied air reconnaissance operations near the border, the source said.

Thirty people are under investigation after crossing the border from Libya to Algeria, the source added.

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