Hours after news broke on Saturday morning that the late Libyan dictator's fugitive son had been caught near the border of Niger, the ICC said the Libyan government had an "obligation" to cooperate with the court.
Prosecutors at the Hague-based tribunal are anxious to prevent a repeat of the events following the arrest of Colonel Gaddafi himself, who was killed by a mob after being caught near the Libyan town of Sirte just over a month ago.
"An arrest warrant has been issued by the ICC," said the court's spokesman, Fadi El-Abdallah. "The Libyan authorities have an obligation to cooperate with the court."
Saif, 39, who was Gaddafi's eldest son and heir apparent to his father's rule, was caught on Friday near the town of Obari in southern Libya by rebels loyal to the new government.
Bashir al-Tlayeb, a commander of one of the Zintan brigades from Libya's Western mountains, said his fighters had captured him with two aides as he tried to escape to Niger. He reportedly had only a few thousand dollars on him, despite claims that he had escaped from Tripoli with a vast fortune to help him stay on the run.
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The prisoner, who refused to confirm his identity, was flown by Libyan militiamen to Zintan, where hundreds thronged the runway to get a look at him. A Reuters correspondent who also travelled on the plane said he wore traditional robes with a scarf pulled over his face, and had a bandaged hand.
On the plane he spoke only a few brief words when the correspondent tried to interview him. Asked if he was feeling all right, Gaddafi said simply: "Yes."
Asked about the bandages on the thumb and two fingers of his right hand, he replied: "Air force, air force," he said. Asked if that meant a NATO air strike, he said: "Yes. One month ago."
But despite a heavy black beard, his visible features as well as his rimless spectacles conformed to pictures of the late
A photograph was released of a man who appeared to be Saif, lying on a sofa with his legs covered by a blanket and his thumb,
Reports a few weeks ago had speculated that he had been injured in a Nato airstrike, possibly losing his hands.
For weeks there had been speculation that Saif had been hiding in the vast south of the country, where his family had loyal supporters among desert tribes. There were also suspicions that he could easily escape across the long, unguarded border with Niger, where the Gaddafi family has many supporters after spending Libya’s oil wealth lavishly there for years.
Libya’s former rebels were desperate to find him, considering him the last dangerous member of the former ruling family still at large.
There were fears that he could still manage to foment trouble or even start an insurgency.
ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo will travel to Libya next week for talks with the transitional government on how to proceed with Saif's criminal trial.
Mr El-Abdallah 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."
Orignal From: Colonel Gaddafis son Saif alIslam captured
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