ZINTAN, Libya, Nov 19, (Agencies): Muammar Gaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam has been captured, scared and with just a few thousand dollars, in the Libyan desert by fighters who vowed to hold him in the mountain town of Zintan until there was a government to hand him over to.
The fighters claimed his capture as gunfire and car horns expressed jubilation across Libya at the seizure of the British-educated 39-year-old who a year ago was set for a dynastic succession to rule the oil-producing desert state.
Saif al-Islam, who vowed to die fighting but was taken without firing a shot, was arrested overnight, officials said, and he was not injured during his seizure — unlike his father, who was killed a month ago on Sunday after being captured in his home town.
“At the beginning he was very scared. He thought we would kill him,” Ahmed Ammar, one of his captors, told Reuters.
Saif al-Islam told Reuters that he was okay and that his hand was bandaged due to wounds sustained in a NATO air strike a month ago. Asked by Reuters on the Soviet-made cargo plane which flew him to the town of Zintan if he was feeling all right, Gaddafi said simply: “Yes.”
The Zintan fighters, who make up one of the powerful militia factions holding ultimate power in a country still without a government, said they planned to keep him in Zintan, until they could hand him over to the authorities.
Prime minister-designate Abdurrahim El-Keib is scheduled to form a government by Tuesday, and the fate of Saif al-Islam will be an early test of its authority. Libyans want to try him at home before, possibly, handing him over to the International Criminal Court which accuses him of crimes against humanity.
The European Union urged Libyan authorities to ensure Saif al-Islam was brought to justice in cooperation with the ICC whose prosecutor is heading for Libya soon to discuss where and how the legal process will take place.
Libyans believe Saif al-Islam holds the keys in his head to billions of dollars of public money amassed by the Gaddafi family but when captured, his captors said, they found only a few thousand dollars and a cache of rifles in seized vehicles.
Ammar told Reuters that his unit of 15 men in three vehicles, acting on a tip-off about a possible high-profile fugitive had intercepted two cars carrying Gaddafi and four others in the desert about 70 km (40 miles) from the small oil town of Obari at about 1:30 a.m. (2330 GMT on Friday).
Trial
Libya’s interim prime minister Abdel Rahim al-Kib said Saturday that Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of the slain leader of Libya, will be given a “fair trial.”
“I reassure our people and the world that Saif, and those with him, will be given a fair trial in which international rights and norms will be guaranteed,” Kib told a news conference in Zintan after formally announcing the arrest of Moamer Kadhafi’s favourite son.
Saif al-Islam is wanted by the International Criminal Court.
Kib did not clearly say if Saif al-Islam would be tried in Libya or at the ICC.
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi will be put on trial in Libya for serious crimes that carry the death penalty, Libya’s interim justice minister said on Saturday.
Asked by Reuters what Libya planned for him, Mohammed al-Alagy said: “He has instigated others to kill, has misused public funds, threatened and instigated and even took part in recruiting and bringing in mercenaries.
“This is just a small account of the crimes that the Libyan prosecutor general is going to bring against him.”
Asked if such crimes carried the death penalty, Alagy, who has said he does not expect to retain his post in a new government due to be named in the coming days, said: “Yes.
“It was created by Gaddafi.”
NATO voiced hope Saturday that the Libyan authorities and the International Criminal Court would ensure that justice is served in the treatment of late Libyan dictator’s son Saif al-Islam.
“We trust that the Libyan authorities and the International Criminal Court will ensure that justice runs its course, so that the new Libya can be built on the rule of law and respect for human rights,” NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said.
British Prime Minister David Cameron on Saturday urged Libya’s leaders to ensure Muammar Gaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam was tried “in line with international standards” following news of his capture.
“The Libyan government has told us again today that he will receive a trial in line with international standards, and it is important that this happens,” Cameron said in a statement.
“Britain will offer every assistance to the Libyan government and the International Criminal Court to bring him to face full accountability and justice for what he has done.”
Libya has an obligation to surrender son Saif al-Islam, a spokesman for the International Criminal Court said Saturday, but he did not exclude the possibility of a trial in Libya.
“The Libyan authorities have an obligation to cooperate with the court, including with respect to the arrest and surrender of Saif al-Islam to the court as indicated in the UN’s resolution,” Fadi El-Abdallah told AFP.
But he added: “If Libyan authorities believe that a trial at national level is a better solution, they can ask that the case not be admitted in The Hague, based on the court’s complementary principle.”
“If they want a trial in Libya, they must submit a request for dismissal and procedures in Libya must be conducted on the same charges as those contained in the warrant of the ICC,” he said.
ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo will travel to Libya next week for talks with the transitional government on the arrest of the 39-year-old Saif, Gaddafi’s one-time heir apparent.