Fighters capture Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam

[TGD]

 

SAIF AL-ISLAM, the fugitive son of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, has been captured and will face a fair trial, the prime minister says.

According to Libyan officials, he was seized by fighters near the southern town of Obari and flown to the city of Zintan in the north. Saif al-Islam told a journalist he was well.

The former leader's son is the last key member of the Gaddafi family to be captured or killed.

Saif al-Islam, 39, is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged crimes against humanity during the uprising against his father.

A militia force allied to the ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) said he had been captured in the desert about 50km west of Obari, and taken to their base in Zintan in the north.

A commander of the Zintan militia, Wisam Dughaly, said Saif al-Islam had been captured along with several aides as they tried to smuggle him out to neighbouring Niger.

Fighters said they were taken without a shot being fired.

"At the beginning he was very scared. He thought we would kill him," one of his captors, named as Ahmed Ammar, told Reuters news agency.

Asked by a Reuters reporter Marie-Louise Gumuchian on the flight to Zintan if he was feeling all right, Saif al-Islam said simply: "Yes."

He told her he had been injured in a NATO air strike about a month ago.

The NTC's Justice Minister Mohammed al-Allagui said he would be transferred to the capital, Tripoli, soon.

The ICC in The Hague says it has been officially notified of the arrest.

Tribunal spokesman Fadi el-Abdallah told the BBC that Libya had a legal obligation to hand Saif al-Islam over to the court.

He added that the final decision on where any trial would take place was up to the ICC judges after consultations with the Libyan authorities.

Libyan Information Minister Mahmoud Shammam told Reuters news agency that Saif al-Islam would be put on trial in Libya.

ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo said he was travelling to Libya for talks on the issue, adding: "The news is Saif will get justice. Where and how, that we will discuss."

The European Union urged Libyan authorities to ensure that Said al-Islam is brought to justice in full co-operation with the ICC.

British Prime Minister David Cameron called on the country's leaders to ensure he was tried "in line with international standards".

The Zintan fighters, who make up one of the powerful militia factions in the country, said they planned to keep Saif al-Islam in Zintan until they could hand him over to Tripoli.

Prime minister-designate Abdurrahim al-Keib is scheduled to announce a government next week.

The capture leaves Gaddafi's former intelligence chief, Abdallah Senoussi, as the only Libyan ICC suspect still at large.

Saif al-Islam had been on the run since NTC forces took the capital, Tripoli, in August, six months into the uprising.

Colonel Gaddafi himself was killed on 20 October after being captured during the final battle for his hometown, Sirte.

The interim government in Libya has launched an inquiry into how he died.



The Guardian