Libya‘s Military Prosecution orders arrest of Gaddafi’s son

Journalists (unseen) watch as the judges (Top-R), broadcasted live from an adjacent room, question Seif al-Islam (C), the son of slain Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi, broadcasted from the western Libyan city of Zintan, from inside a room in Tripoli on 27 April 2014. [MAHMUD TURKIA/AFP via Getty Images]

The Libyan Military Prosecutor’s Office issued an arrest warrant against Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi on murder charges and recruiting mercenaries, local media reported yesterday.

Media outlets, including Libya Al-Ahrar TV, indicated that the Office of the Military Prosecutor ordered the arrest and interrogation of Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi on 5 August for his “involvement in murders and recruiting mercenaries.”

The Public Prosecutor’s directives were included in a communiqué to security and military agencies, including the Military Police Department, the Military Intelligence Department, the General Intelligence, the Deterrence Apparatus for Combating Organised Crime and Terrorism, the Stability Support Agency, the Internal Security Agency, and the Ministry of the Interior.

The communiqué authorised “the use of military and security agencies within the jurisdiction of the location of the person concerned, in order to implement this order,” adding that this comes as part of “criminal investigations that are being conducted” regarding a case file “related to the incident of murders committed by mercenaries of Russian nationality”.

READ: Gaddafi’s finances may save Libya’s new budget

With the support of Arab and Western countries, mercenaries and foreign fighters launched failed attempts to seize the capital, Tripoli, the seat of the internationally recognised government, leading to fatalities and injuries among civilians.

Saif Al-Islam is one of the sons of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, who ruled the country from 1969 to 2011, before being overthrown by a popular revolution.

Gaddafi’s son is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), charged with committing war crimes.

On 17 May, the outgoing prosecutor of ICC, Fatou Bensouda, said: “Either Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi surrenders himself or the Libyan authorities hand him over to the court.”

According to observers, Gaddafi’s loyalists are keen to nominate Saif Al-Islam for the presidential elections, with Russian and tribal support.

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