Gaddafi aides' trial adjourned

The Criminal Court of Appeal in Tripoli yesterday adjourned the trial of a number of former President Muammar Gaddafi’s aides to December 14, a judicial source told the Anadolu Agency.

Lawyer Nasser Abu Wajeh said: “The trial was adjourned on the request of the defence lawyers because of the absence of their colleagues.” He noted that the absence of Gaddafi’s son Saif Al-Islam was also a reason for the adjournment of the trial.

Judicial sources in the Supreme Court had previously told Anadolu that there has been no clear information about the fate of Saif Al-Islam because of the ongoing fighting in the area where he is being held, and the inability of officials to contact their colleagues in the city of Al-Zintan.

The sources expressed fears about Saif Al-Islam’s fate of and called for information about his whereabouts.

Several of Gaddafi’s aides are being held in jail awaiting trial. The most prominent are former Prime Minister Baghdadi Ali Mahmudi, Intelligence Chief Abdullah Al-Senussi and director of external security service Abu Zayd Umar Dorda.

They are facing charges of genocide during the February 17 revolution, creating armed militias to crackdown on civilians, causing internal clashes and being involved in financial and administrative corruption.