War crimes court seeks transfer of Gaddafi's son: official

Aug 22, 2011 |

THE HAGUE

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The International Criminal Court is seeking the transfer of Muammar Gaddafi's son Seif al-Islam to The Hague to face charges of crimes against humanity, the court's spokesman said on Monday.

"The court as a whole is involved," Fadi El-Abdallah said, answering 'yes' when asked if that meant discussions were underway with the Libyan rebel National Transitional Council (NTC) over Seif al-Islam's transfer.

Earlier on Monday, the court's prosecutor Louis Moreno-Ocampo said Seif al-Islam, 39, was arrested and in detention, calling for his swift transfer.

'We hope he can soon be in The Hague', to face judgement, Moreno-Ocampo said as he indicated he was planning to contact the 'Libyan transitional government' later in the day.

Seif al-Islam is accused together with his father with orchestrating a plan to put down the Libyan revolt by 'any means necessary' since it was sparked in mid-February.

This included the murder of hundreds of pro-freedom Libyan protestors and injuring hundreds of others when security forces shot a crowds using live ammunition, as well as the arrest and torture of numerous others.

Before the revolt erupted, Seif al-Islam was increasingly seen as a successor to his father, despite publicly ruling out any dynastic ambitions in the North African country.

Described as the Libyan strongman's de facto prime minister and most influential person within his inner circle, Seif al-Islam is wanted because he 'espoused and executed Gaddafi's plan which led to the commission of the crimes', a court document stated.

"Relevant to the prosecutor's application, Seif al-Islam exercised control over crucial parts of the state apparatus, including finances and logistics," said the ICC's decision to grant arrest warrants against Gaddafi, his son and Libyan spymaster Abdullah al-Senussi on June 27.

"There are reasonable ground to believe that Muammar Gaddafi and Seif al-Islam's orders to any branch of the state apparatus automatically activated the state machinery," the court document added.

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