Libya must hand over Seif al-Islam, the son of Muammar Gaddafi, to the International Criminal Court, an official said, while holding out the prospect of a trial in Tripoli. An ICC spokesman said chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo would travel to Libya next week for talks with the new regime, as world leaders called on the authorities in Tripoli to ensure that justice was done. Seif, who was considered Gaddafi’s heir apparent, is wanted by the court for crimes against humanity, allegedly committed during the former regime’s crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in February. He, his father, and Gaddafi’s security chief Adullah al-Senussi, were all accused of having orchestrated the deadly operations against the protesters to put down the revolt by “any means necessary”.
The security forces, acting on their orders, killed or wounded, hundreds of anti-regime demonstrators, arresting hundreds of others as they tried to quash the uprising. ICC spokesman Fadi Al-Abdallah said the Libyan authorities were obliged to cooperate with the ICC and surrender him to the court as required by the UN resolution on Libya. “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,” Abdallah added. The court said Seif could request the judges not to order his return to Libya after any conviction. Judges could also order him extradited to another state, the prosecutor said. Britain, France and the United States all called on Libya’s new rulers to cooperate fully with the ICC to show the new government’s legitimacy.
