Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the fugitive son of Libya’s deceased former dictator, has been arrested in southern Libya, according to officials from the country’s new government.
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?According to Reuters, Libyan state TV reported that Saif had arrived in captivity and unhurt at an army base in the town of Zintan, 145 Kilometres south-west of Tripoli.
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Muammar Gaddafi’s second and highest-profile son was captured along with several bodyguards by fighters near the town of Obari in Libya’s southern desert, said the interim justice minister and other officials.
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Saif was said to be in good health, according to the justice minister, Mohammed al-Alagi.
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“We have arrested Saif al-Islam Gaddafi in the Obari area,” the minister told Reuters.
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Saif was captured near the southern city of Sabha with two aides trying to smuggle him out to neighbouring Niger, militia commander Bashir al-Tayeleb said.
Zintan, a base for forces in the Nafusa Mountains which played a key part in the storming of Tripoli in the summer,was reported to have crowds dancing in the streets and waving the Libyan flag.
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There were reports that an angry mob tried to storm the plane on which Saif was taken to the western mountain town of Zintan, the home of one of the largest revolutionary brigades in Libya.
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Gunfire echoed across the capital, Tripoli, where large crowds had gathered in Martyrs’ Square, firing volleys of automatic fire in the air. “A great day, a great day,” said Abdullah, a taxi driver, stuck in one of the traffic jams that built up around the square.
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A Reuters reporter said a man who appeared to be Saif, but who refused to confirm his identity, was on a plane flown by militiamen to the town.
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The man wore traditional robes with a scarf pulled over his face, but his features, visible despite a heavy black beard, as well as his rimless spectacles, conformed to pictures of the 39-year-old younger Gaddafi.
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The man’s thumb, index finger and another finger were heavily bandaged.
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Libyan TV also showed a photo purportedly of Saif in custody. He is sitting by a bed and holding up three bandaged fingers as a guard looks on.
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There were reports that Saif was wounded during his capture.
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Tlayeb, of the Zintan brigades said it would be up to Libya’s transitional ruling National Transitional Council to decide on where Saif would be tried.
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He added that there was still no information about Libya’s former intelligence chief, Abdullah al-Senussi’s location .
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A fighter from the anti-Gaddafi Khaled bin al-Waleed Brigade, which said it seized Saif, told Free Libya television: “We got a tip he had been staying there for the last month.
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“They couldn’t get away because we had a good plan. He was not hurt and will be taken safely for trial so Libyans will be able to prosecute him and get back their money.
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“We will take him to Zintan for safekeeping to keep him alive until a government is formed and then we will hand him over as soon as possible”.
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The arrest comes after months of hunting for the suspect in the southern desert but also provides the first challenge for the new government which prime minister Abdel-Rahim al-Keeb is due to announce today. Previously, the ruling National Transitional Council has insisted it will try any war criminals in Libya and not extradite them to the international criminal court which in June indicted Gaddafi for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
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Last month, Saif told the international criminal court he is innocent of alleged crimes against humanity. The court, based in The Hague, is seeking his arrest on charges relating to Libya’s civil war.
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Alagi said he was in touch with the ICC over how to deal with Saif, either at home or The Hague. He told al-Jazeera: “We Libyans do not oppose the presence of international monitors to monitor the trial procedures that will take place for the symbols of the former regime.”
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An ICC prosecution office spokeswoman, Florence Olara, said: “We are co-ordinating with the Libyan ministry of justice to ensure that any solution with regards to the arrest of Saif al-Islam is in accordance with the law.”
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The ICC charged Muammar Gaddafi, Saif al-Islam, and Senussi with crimes against humanity for the bombing and shooting of civilian protesters in February.
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Saif fled Libya after forces loyal to Libya’s new rulers captured and apparently killed his father outside his hometown of Sirte. But Libyan officials are determined to resist attempts to bring Saif before the ICC, claiming he should instead face justice at home.
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When Tripoli seemed set to fall to the rebels, he appeared outside a hotel in the city meeting loyalists and talking to western reporters. He went underground after the capital fell to revolutionary forces.
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Born in 1972, Saif is the oldest of seven children of Muammar and Safia Gaddafi. He drew western backing in previous years by touting himself as a liberal reformer but then staunchly backed his father in the brutal crackdown on rebels in the regime’s final days.