The Nigerien government said Friday it will not send fallen Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi’s son Saadi back home from Niger, where he fled after the collapse of the regime in Tripoli. Asked by journalists if Niger would turn Gaddafi’s son over to Libya’s new authorities, government spokesman Marou Amadou said, ‘No.’
‘With regard to (our) international obligations, we cannot send someone back there where he has no chance of receiving a fair trial and where he could face the death penalty,’ he said. ‘On the other hand, if this gentleman or any other person is wanted by an independent court … which has universal competence over the crimes for which he is pursued, Niger will do its duty,’ he added.
On a visit to Libya on Thursday with British Prime Minister David Cameron, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he was confident that Niger would cooperate in this regard. ‘We have no reason to doubt the Nigerien leaders’ commitment to international justice,’ Sarkozy said. ‘We are a sovereign government and we shall consider requests or demands when they are received,’ said Amadou.
Saadi Gaddafi is on a list of people close to the Gaddafi regime targeted by UN Security Council travel sanctions. Niger has confirmed it has 32 Gaddafi loyalists on its soil, including three generals, saying it allowed them entry for ‘humanitarian reasons’. Niamey has officially recognised the National Transitional Council as Libya’s interim readership.
It has insisted that Gaddafi himself was not on its territory and declared that it will comply with international agreements should wanted Libyans cross into its borders. Libya’s NTC battles on, buoyed by UN backing: Forces of Libya’s new leadership battled diehard remnants of the fallen regime of Muammar Gaddafi on Saturday, after the UN eased sanctions and assigned its seat at the world body to the former rebels.
National Transitional Council (NTC) forces swept further into Gaddafi’s hometown of Sirte as at least 6,000 fighters battled in and around one of the ousted despot’s final strongholds. An AFP correspondent reported two killed in fierce clashes at a roundabout in the town, one a medic, and at least four wounded.
Commander Salem Jeha, a member of Misrata Military Council, told AFP by telephone of the fight for Sirte: ‘We are now concentrated in a handful of buildings in the city and on the outskirts including Wadi Abu Hadi where Gaddafi’s forces are concentrated.’ Western nations that were at the forefront of the push for sanctions and help for the rebels hailed the ‘historic’ double breakthrough at the UN for the NTC.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said in a statement it showed the international community’s determination to support a ‘free future’ for Libya. The 15-member Security Council unanimously passed a resolution on Friday to ease an assets freeze and arms embargo against Libyan companies and the new government. It maintained sanctions against Gaddafi and a no-fly zone which has been used to justify NATO air strikes against his forces.
The resolution eases sanctions against major enterprises such as the Libyan National Oil Corporation, the central bank and the Libyan Investment Authority sovereign wealth fund in a bid to kick-start the economy.
The Security Council also expressed concern at the ‘proliferation of arms in Libya and its potential impact on regional peace and security.’
