Son of Colonel Gaddafi could face a firing squad after the Libyan government yesterday refused to hand him over to the International Criminal Court.
Officials in Tripoli insisted that British-educated Saif Al-Islam, who was captured on Saturday, would stand trial in his own country for crimes against the Libyan people. The charge carries the death penalty.
The 39-year-old used to wear fashionable western clothes and designer stubble when he threw wild parties in the South of France and at his £10million mansion in Hampstead, North London.
But when rebel fighters tracked him down in the southern Libyan desert, trying to flee over the border to Niger, he wore a bushy black beard, turban and flowing robes.
He then leapt from his car and made a farcical attempt to hide behind it before diving under a bundle of clothes, covering it with sand. He also rubbed sand on his face and head in an apparent attempt to disguise himself.
‘But when we told him to surrender he did,’ said Ajami Ali al-Atari, the commander of the operation.
The rebels flew him to the town of Zintan, south of Tripoli, where a mob of locals surrounded the Libyan air force transport plane.
A tape recording picked up some of the conversations on the tarmac between Saif and his captors.
‘I knew it. I knew that there would be a big crowd,’ he was heard saying as he peeped out through curtains before recoiling in apparent terror. He added: ‘I’m staying here. They’ll empty their guns into me the second I go out there.’
John Smith, camel herder: Saif Al-Islam bizarrely rubbed sand on his face and head as he was held
But when rebel fighters tracked him down in the southern Libyan desert, trying to flee over the border to Niger, he wore a bushy black beard, turban and flowing robes.
He then leapt from his car and made a farcical attempt to hide behind it before diving under a bundle of clothes, covering it with sand. He also rubbed sand on his face and head in an apparent attempt to disguise himself.
‘But when we told him to surrender he did,’ said Ajami Ali al-Atari, the commander of the operation.
The rebels flew him to the town of Zintan, south of Tripoli, where a mob of locals surrounded the Libyan air force transport plane.
A tape recording picked up some of the conversations on the tarmac between Saif and his captors.
‘I knew it. I knew that there would be a big crowd,’ he was heard saying as he peeped out through curtains before recoiling in apparent terror. He added: ‘I’m staying here. They’ll empty their guns into me the second I go out there.’
Scared: Saif looks nervous as he sits surrounded by his rebel captors, and he looks at his injured hand
Deposed: The former heir to Colonel Gaddafi's regime was held at the mercy of a rebel militia
Saif smiles nervously at his captors as he is held captive at Obari airport
These mobile phone pictures were taken by one of the men guarding the captive Saif
Booty: Saif's western-style glasses and a stack of U.S. dollars which he was carrying when he was captured
But when men in the plane lit up cigarettes, he told them they were putting his life at risk. ‘The plane’s sealed and we’ll suffocate,’ he said. ‘We’re going to choke to death.’
When one of his guards suggested opening the door for ventilation, he appeared to think the armed crowd banging on the walls posed a more immediate threat to his health. ‘I don’t need fresh air, man,’ he said.
Amnesty International called for Saif to be urgently handed over to the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands amid fears that he could suffer the same fate as his father, who was killed soon after he was caught by rebels last month.
But Libya has no agreement with the International Criminal Court, and its justice minister Mohammed
Al Alagy said: ‘We are ready to prosecute. We have adopted enough legal and judicial procedures to ensure a fair trial for him.’
Arrested: Saif al-Islam pictured in a prison cell after his detention in the southern desert of Libya
Airborne: Saif Gaddafi (second right) on the plane which took him to Zintan, following his capture
'Don't let them shoot': Saif pictured on the plane to Zintan
Saif and four bodyguards were stopped by small unit of rebel fighters in pick-up trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns following a tip-off that he was planning to escape over the border.
His fingers were wrapped in bandages and his legs covered with a blanket after apparently being injured in a Nato air raid a month ago.
He is thought to have been hiding in the southern desert since last month fleeing his tribal stronghold of Bani Walid, near the capital, Tripoli.
Abdul al-Salaam al-Wahissi, a Zintan fighter involved in the operation said: ‘He looked tired. He had been lost in the desert for many days. I think he lost his guide.’
ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo has said that he will travel to Libya today for talks with the ruling National Transitional Council on where Saif’s trial will take place. He said that while national governments have the first right to try their own citizens for war crimes, his primary goal was to ensure a fair trial.
Human Rights Watch warned that the killing of Colonel Gaddafi after being captured was a ‘particular cause for concern’ if Saif is kept in Libya.
But Libya’s information minister Mahmoud Shammam said: ‘The ICC is just a secondary court, and the people of Libya will not allow Saif to be tried outside.’
The transitional government has yet to rule on its preferred form of execution for criminals.
Only three weeks ago Saif had vowed to avenge his father’s death, declaring defiantly: ‘I am alive and free and willing to fight to the end.’ Last night he remained in a safe house in Zintan, where the townsfolk vowed to keep him alive until he can face a judge in the capital.
Tripoli’s new rulers said last night that ex-Intelligence Minister Abdullah al-Senoussi had been captured alive by revolutionary fighters, not far from where Saif was seized.
Fighters tracking al-Senoussi for two days caught up with him at his sister’s house in Deerat al-Shati, about 40 miles south of the desert city of Sebha.
Al-Senoussi, Colonel Gaddafi’s brother-in-law, was one of six Libyans convicted in absentia and sentenced to life in prison in France for the 1989 bombing of a French passenger jet over Niger which killed all 170 on board
The Libyan dictator and patriarch of the feared Gaddafi clan was killed on October 20 in his hometown of Sirte, the last loyalist stronghold to fall to the former rebels. After his death, his body was on display in the city of Misrata and attracted long queues of people wanting to see him in the flesh.
Saif is expected to be charged with crimes including instigating others to kill and misusing public funds.
Before the fall: A defiant Saif al-Islam strikes a typical 'V for victory' pose while talking to reporters at a press conference during the rebel uprising in August
Saif, pictured at an opera ball, could spill some explosive secrets
Only three weeks ago Saif had vowed to avenge his father’s death, declaring defiantly: ‘I am alive and free and willing to fight to the end.’ Last night he remained in a safe house in Zintan, where the townsfolk vowed to keep him alive until he can face a judge in the capital.
Tripoli’s new rulers said last night that ex-Intelligence Minister Abdullah al-Senoussi had been captured alive by revolutionary fighters, not far from where Saif was seized.
Fighters tracking al-Senoussi for two days caught up with him at his sister’s house in Deerat al-Shati, about 40 miles south of the desert city of Sebha.
Al-Senoussi, Colonel Gaddafi’s brother-in-law, was one of six Libyans convicted in absentia and sentenced to life in prison in France for the 1989 bombing of a French passenger jet over Niger which killed all 170 on board
DOWNFALL OF A DYNASTY: WHERE ARE THE GADDAFIS NOW?
Muammar Gaddafi - DEAD
The Libyan dictator and patriarch of the feared Gaddafi clan was killed on October 20 in his hometown of Sirte, the last loyalist stronghold to fall to the former rebels. After his death, his body was on display in the city of Misrata and attracted long queues of people wanting to see him in the flesh.
Saif Al Islam Gaddafi - CAPTUREDThe 'heir', whose liberal reputation was undermined after the outbreak of the revolt in February, is the only Gaddafi to have been taken alive, following his capture yesterday.
Mutassim Gaddafi - DEAD
The hedonistic national security adviser died in Sirte on the same day as his father. He was captured by the rebels and seen alive in a video, but just minutes later was dead of a bloody wound, leading many to believe that he was summarily executed by National Transitional Council forces. Saif Al Arab Gaddafi - DEADThe 29-year-old, who studied in Germany, was apparently killed by Nato bombardment on Gaddafi's home in Tripoli on April 30.
Saadi Gaddafi - FLEDThe footballer was signed to top Italian teams for several years, but made only two appearances - apparently at the behest of Italy's then-prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. Despite claiming to be 'neutral' in the Libyan civil war, he fled to Niger in September. The country says it will not allow him to be extradited.
Khamis Gaddafi - DEAD?The death of Colonel Gaddafi's youngest son has been repeatedly announced, but never confirmed. Both pro-regime sources and rebels have claimed that he was killed on August 29, when the convoy he was travelling in was attacked by a Nato aeroplane.
Safia Gaddafi - FLED (with her children)The Colonel's second wife escaped to Algeria in late August, soon after the fall of Tripoli. She is believed to have been with her children Hannibal and Aisha, and her stepson Muhammad, Gaddafi's only child from his first marriage. The Algerian government claims to have offered to return them to Libya.
WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT SAIF AL-ISLAM GADDAFI?
Born in 1972, Saif is the oldest of seven children.
He earned an engineering degree in Libya and a business degree in Austria before wrapping up his education with a master's degree and doctorate at the London School of Economics in 2008.
His engagement in Libyan politics began in the 1990s, when he became the president of the Gaddafi International Foundation for Charity Associations. The organisation has acted as an intermediary in several disputes and helped lead to a rapprochement between Libya and the international community.
His engagement in Libyan politics began in the 1990s, when he became the president of the Gaddafi International Foundation for Charity Associations. The organisation has acted as an intermediary in several disputes and helped lead to a rapprochement between Libya and the international community.
He often acted as an envoy for his father's regime, and in 2002 and 2003 helped broker the agreement that saw Libya renounce its weapons of mass destruction program and begin its journey back into the international fold.
He lobbied militants to release hostages, funded research at the London School of Economics, welcomed world leaders and Western intellectuals to his country and portrayed himself as a champion of economic and social reforms
In 2009, he aided talks in Britain that eventually secured the release of Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, the only man convicted in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.
A 2009 U.S. diplomatic cable released by the website WikiLeaks said his high-profile role as the public face of the regime to the West has been a mixed blessing for him.
It added: 'While it has bolstered his image ... many Libyans view him as self-aggrandizing and too eager to please foreigners at the expense of Libyans' interest.'
