ICC confirms indirect talks with Gaddafi son
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Xinhua, October 29, 2011
The international Criminal Court (ICC) was having indirect conversations with Muammar Gaddafi's son Saif Al-Islam for him to face justice in the Hague, the ICC confirmed on Friday.
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| File photo shows Saif al-Islam, the son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, during an activity in Tripoli on August 23, 2011. Saif al-Islam, promised on August 31, 2011 continued resistance to Libyan forces which ousted his father from Tripoli, and urged Libyans to wage a war of attrition against the National Transitional Council and its NATO backers. [Xinhua/AFP Photo] |
![File photo shows Saif al-Islam, the son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, during an activity in Tripoli on August 23, 2011. Saif al-Islam, promised on August 31, 2011 continued resistance to Libyan forces which ousted his father from Tripoli, and urged Libyans to wage a war of attrition against the National Transitional Council and its NATO backers. [Xinhua/AFP Photo]](http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20111029/00114320def110159c3401.jpg "File photo shows Saif al-Islam, the son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, during an activity in Tripoli on August 23, 2011. Saif al-Islam, promised on August 31, 2011 continued resistance to Libyan forces which ousted his father from Tripoli, and urged Libyans to wage a war of attrition against the National Transitional Council and its NATO backers. [Xinhua/AFP Photo]")
Like his father and former intelligence chief Abdullah Al-Senussi, Saif Al-Islam was indicted with crimes against humanity in Libya by the ICC earlier this year.
"The Office of the Prosecutor is galvanizing efforts to implement the arrest warrants issued by Judges of the International Criminal Court against Saif Al Islam Gaddafi and Abdullah Al Senussi," said Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo in a statement.
"Through intermediaries, we have informal contact with Saif," he continued.
"The Office of the Prosecutor has made it clear that if he surrenders to the ICC, he has the right to be heard in court, he is innocent until proven guilty,"he said.
The exact whereabouts of Saif Al-Islam and Al-Senussi are unknown. According to unconfirmed reports Gaddafi's son requested an aircraft to fly him from Libya's southern desert to The Hague. Other reports have it that he is on his way to Mali.
"Additionally, we have learnt through informal channels that there is a group of mercenaries who are offering to move Saif to an African country, not party to the Rome Statute of the ICC," Moreno-Ocampo said.
"The Office of the Prosecutor is also exploring the possibility to intercept any plane within the airspace of a state party in order to make an arrest,"he said.
The chief prosecutor also explained the proceedings if Saif Al-Islam comes to the ICC and proves his innocence.
"This is a legal process and if the judges decide that Saif is innocent, or has served his sentence, he can request the judges to send him to a different country as long as that country accepts him."
The ICC is still waiting for official documents to confirm the death of Libya's fallen leader Muammar Gaddafi. He was killed on the run near his hometown Sirte on October 20.
