Saif al-Islam Gaddafi may try to flee Libya – ICC

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi may try to flee Libya – ICC

The International Criminal Court says it is still receiving information that Muammar Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam may try to flee Libya with the help of mercenaries.

Louis Moreno-Ocampo, the court's chief prosecutor said, "We are also receiving information that a group of mercenaries may be endeavouring to facilitate his (Saif al-Islam's) escape from Libya; we are calling upon states to do all they can to disrupt any such operation.” 

Saif al-Islam may be heading for Niger, which risks upsetting pro-Gaddafi Tuareg nomads, if it hands him over to the ICC as it has promised to do if he shows up there.

Libya's interim leadership has expressed its desire to try Saif al-Islam and former intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi in Libya.

Both men have been indicted by the ICC for crimes against humanity and other war crimes.

Potential surrender

Ocampo said people linked to Saif al-Islam had approached his office with questions ‘about the legal conditions attached to his potential surrender to the court.’

The intermediaries were told it would be possible to request that Saif al-Islam not be returned to Libya.
Ocampo wrote in a report submitted to the 15-nation Security Council that it was also possible for both men to be tried in Libya if they submit a formal request. It would then be up to ICC judges to decide.

Another possibility, he said, was for the ICC to conduct its own trials inside Libya.

Libya's Deputy UN Ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi, in a speech to the council, did not make clear where he thought the two men should be tried if arrested but promised ‘consultation and close cooperation’ with the court.

Dabbashi also said Libya's new rulers would make sure all those involved in crimes not covered by ICC jurisdiction received ‘transparent investigations and fair and just trials in Libyan courts’.

Reuters/Ehimen/Ekata