Gaddafi's Son in Prison Cell with 'Missing Fingers'

KOMPAS.com - There were scenes of joy in Tripoli yesterday after Muammar Gaddafi's son and heir apparent Saif al-Islam was captured in the southern desert of Libya. And he now faces the prospect of going on trial in Libya for serious crimes that carry the death penalty, according to justice officials.

Saif al-Islam, who had vowed to die fighting but was taken without a struggle, was apprehended overnight, officials said. He was arrested with several bodyguards near the town of Obari by fighters based in the western mountain town of Zintan.

Libya's prime minister officially confirmed the capture of Muammar Gaddafi's son tonight, calling it the 'crowning' of the uprising's efforts and promising a fair trial for Saif al-Islam.

'We assure Libyans and the world that Saif al-Islam will receive a fair trial... under fair legal processes which our own people had been deprived of for the last 40 years,' Abdurrahim El-Keib said, amid chants of 'Allahu Akbar' (God is greatest) at a news conference.

Muammar Gaddafi was captured by rebels while trying to flee the oil-rich desert nation a month ago. Already wounded, the deposed dictator was paraded before crowds and cameras. It is understood he was then executed by the mob with a gun shot to the head.

A photograph, released earlier this afternoon, shows Saif al-Islam sat in a prison cell on a bed, under a blanket, with heavily bandaged fingers. It appears to reveal he is now missing several fingers on his right hand - backing up previous reports he had the digits blown off in an attack.

After being apprehended, he was flown to Zintan, where, upon landing, a mob tried to storm his aircraft. He said he felt fine after being captured by some of the fighters who overthrew his father, and said injuries to his right hand were suffered during a Nato air strike a month ago.

Asked on the plane which flew him to the town of Zintan if he was feeling all right, Gaddafi said simply: 'Yes.' Reluctant to speak at length, the London-educated heir to Gaddafi was asked about bandages on the thumb and two fingers. 'Air force, air force,' he said.

Asked if that meant a Nato air strike, he said: 'Yes. One month ago.'

'At the beginning he was very scared - he thought we would kill him," Ahmed Ammar, one of his captors, said.

The Zintan fighters, who make up one of Libya's most powerful militia factions that hold effective 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.

Following news of his capture, Libya's interim justice minister confirmed that the younger Gaddafi could now face the death penalty if tried on home soil rather than by an international criminal court.

Asked 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 said: 'Yes.It was created by Gaddafi.'

The International Criminal Court at The Hague indicted the younger Gaddafi for crimes against humanity relating to allegations that he ordered the killing of demonstrators after February's uprising. But Libyans want to try him at home for crimes allegedly committed over previous years.

'We are ready to prosecute Saif al-Islam,' Alagy said.

'We have adopted enough legal and judicial procedures to ensure a fair trial for him.'

Noting that the interim government had done away with special military courts used by Muammar Gaddafi to persecute opponents, Alagy said: 'We have abolished all exceptional courts and have separated the judicial and executive powers.

'We call on all international and local organisations to attend Saif al-Islam's trial. We will prosecute him in accordance with the international standards.'

He said the final charge sheet would be up to the prosecutor general.

'We can't speculate and accuse him before it is officially announced by the prosecutor who will investigate the matter,' he said.

'We all know that Saif al-Islam is wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity. I do not think that the Libyan prosecutor general will indict him for anything less than that.'

Aides to Gaddafi said his motorcade was caught by a Nato air strike as he tried to flee the pro-Gaddafi stronghold of Bani Walid, near Tripoli, on October 19, the day before his father was captured and killed in his home town of Sirte.

After the brief exchange with the heavily bearded prisoner, journalists who met Saif said they had no doubt that it was indeed him - though he repeatedly declined to confirm his identity outright.

So great was the crowd which thronged the Soviet-built cargo aircraft that flew him up from the desert town of Obari that his captors removed four other prisoners and other people from the plane, leaving Saif al-Islam still on board on the tarmac.

The country's interim justice minister said Saif and several bodyguards were captured near the town of Obari, 400 miles south of Tripoli, by fighters based in the western mountain town of Zintan. They had been trying to flee to neighbouring Niger. No other senior figures from the ousted administration were caught.

'We have arrested Saif al-Islam Gaddafi in the Obari area,' Justice Minister Mohammed al-Alagy said.

He added that the 39-year-old, who is wanted for crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court at The Hague, was not injured. There was no word of the other official wanted by the ICC, former intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi.

The news broke and fighters from Zintan, a powerful faction among the many armed groups currently dominating Libya while the NTC tries to form a new government, started celebrating in Tripoli.

Bashir Thaelba, a Zintan field commander who had called a news conference on another issue, told reporters in the capital that Gaddafi would be held in Zintan until there was a government to hand him over to.

The government is due to be formed within days. 'The rebels of Zintan announce that Saif al-Islam Gaddafi has been arrested along with three of his aides today,' Thaelba said in remarks carried on Libyan television.

'We hope at this historical moment that the future of Libya will be bright.'

The European Union has urged Libyan authorities, despite the NTC's decision to try him in Libya, to ensure he is brought to justice in full cooperation with the International Criminal Court.

A spokesman for the EU's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said his arrest was a 'significant development' that could help national reconciliation after a bloody civil war.

Michael Mann said: 'The Libyan authorities should now ensure that Saif al-Islam is brought to justice in accordance with the principles of due process and in full cooperation with the International Criminal Court.

'It is important for future national reconciliation that those responsible for human rights violations committed both before and during the recent conflict are brought to justice.'