'Ample' evidence aganist Gaddafi's son
2011-10-30 16:01
Beijing - The prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC) said on Sunday he has "substantial evidence" that Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of Libya's toppled leader, was involved in organising attacks on civilians and hiring mercenaries.
Luis Moreno-Ocampo also said he met Saif al-Islam several years ago, and Saif al-Islam had backed the ICC's efforts to arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir over alleged genocide and other crimes in Darfur.
"We have a witness who explained how Saif was involved with the planning of the attacks against civilians, including in particular the hiring of core mercenaries from different countries and the transport of them, and also the financial aspects he was covering," Moreno-Ocampo told Reuters in Beijing, where he was attending an academic conference.
Moreno-Ocampo then clarified that he meant he had multiple witnesses, and not just one.
"So we have substantial evidence to prove the case, but of course Saif is still [presumed] innocent, and [will] have to go to court and the judge will decide," he said.
Moreno-Ocampo said he was planning to fly to New York to brief the UN Security Council on Wednesday about the court's work in Libya.
The ICC said on Saturday that Saif al-Islam was in contact via intermediaries about possibly surrendering, but it also had information that mercenaries were trying to take him to a friendly African nation where he could evade arrest.