Interim Tripoli government says son of Muammar Gaddafi was arrested
while attempting to flee to neighbouring Niger
David Batty
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 19 November 2011 11.43 GMT
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the fugitive son of Libya's deceased former
dictator, has been arrested in southern Libya, according to offcials
from the country's new government.
Muammar Gaddafi's second and highest-profile son was captured along
with several bodyguards by fighters near the town of Obari in Libya's
southern desert , said the interim justice minister and other
officials.
Saif was said to be in good health, the justice minister added. He was
captured near the southern city of Sabha with two aides trying to
smuggle him out to neighbouring Niger, militia commander Bashir al-
Tayeleb said.
Tlayeb, of the Zintan brigades said Saif 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 transitional ruling National
Transitional Council to decide on where Said would be tried, he added.
Tlayeb also said that there was still no information about Libya's
former intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussior's location .
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.
Saif fled Libya after forces loyal to Libya's new rulers captured and
apparently killed his father outside his hometown of Sirte. But Libyan
officials are determined to resist attempts to bring Saif before the
ICC, claiming he should instead face justice at home.
Born in 1972, Saif is the oldest of seven children of Muammar and
Safiya Gadhafi. He drew Western backing in previous years by touting
himself as a liberal reformer but then staunchly backed his father in
the brutal crackdown on rebels in the regime's final days.
Saif had gone underground after Tripoli fell to revolutionary forces.
© 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies.
All rights reserved.
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