'No Libyan response' on Gaddafi son as deadline nears

A deadline has almost elapsed for Libya to give the International Criminal Court (ICC) information about the health and status of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi.

The former Libyan leader's son was captured in southern Libya in November.

The ICC, based in The Hague, has indicted him for crimes against humanity but Libya's new leaders say they want him to stand trial in Libya.

The ICC could refer Libya to the UN Security Council if it does not respond to its request on Tuesday.

Charges against Saif al-Islam Saif al-Islam has been charged with indirect co-perpetrator of murder and persecution as crimes against humanity. He is also accused of "assuming the essential tasks” of making sure the plan to ensure Gaddafi’s security forces carried out systematic attacks against civilians between February 15 and 28 worked.

Saif al-Islam’s trial

The ICC has accepted that Saif al-Islam will be tried in Libya but wants assurances that the country's justice system can produce a fair trial.

In a visit to Libya in November, the chief prosecutor of the ICC, Luis Moreno-Ocampo said: "The standard of the ICC is that it has to be a judicial process that is not organised to shield the suspect… and I respect that it's important for the cases to be tried in Libya… and I am not competing for the case."

Saif al-Islam, Colonel Gaddafi's most prominent son, is being held in the western town of Zintan. He was arrested while trying to flee the country.

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi told a representative of Human Rights Watch last month that he was being treated well, but had not seen a lawyer or the detailed charges against him.

Fred Abrahams of Human Rights Watch said that he had the impression from their meeting that Saif al-Islam "doesn't fully understand that he is no longer one of the most powerful people in the country".