Saturday, November 19, 2011

Qaddafi son Saif al-Islam Captured in Libyan Desert

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the fugitive son of Libya’s deceased former dictator, has been arrested in southern Libya, according to officials from the country’s new government.

He was captured by revolutionary fighters in the western town of Obari, near the Algerian border, said the interim justice minister and other officials.

Saif was said to be in good health, and was captured with two aides trying to smuggle him out to neighboring Niger. He was taken to the western mountain town of Zintan, the home of one of the largest revolutionary brigades in Libya.
It would be up to the Libya’s National Transitional Council to decide on where Saif al-Islam would be tried. Saif was named in an Interpol arrest warrant in September, is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity, including murder and persecution, committed during the uprising.

Chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo said that if Saif al-Islam Gadhafi is brought before the ICC, he will “have all the rights and be protected,” and will be allowed to present a defense.

Last month, Saif told the international criminal court he is innocent of alleged crimes against humanity. The court, based in The Hague, is seeking his arrest on charges relating to Libya’s civil war.

The ICC charged Muammar Gaddafi, Saif al-Islam, and Senoussi with crimes against humanity for the bombing and shooting of civilian protesters in February.

Source: The Nomad Times

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