Gaddafi son in surrender talks
2011-10-28 22:44
The Hague -The International Criminal Court said on Friday it was in contact with slain Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's son Seif al-Islam over his surrender, as Nato decided to end its mission in Libya.
Luis Moreno-Ocampo warned however the ICC learnt that a group of mercenaries have offered to move Seif to an African country which was a non-party to the ICC's founding document, the Rome Statute.
"Through intermediaries, we have informal contact with Seif," the prosecutor said in a statement, issued at the court's headquarters in The Hague.
"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," Moreno-Ocampo said, adding: "The judges will decide."
He said after learning that a group of mercenaries offered to move Seif to an African state not bound to hand him over to the ICC, his office was "exploring the possibility to intercept any plane within the airspace of a state party in order to make an arrest."
Seif, 39, and Gaddafi's security chief and brother-in-law Abdullah al-Senussi, 62, are the most wanted fugitives from the slain despot's ousted circle.
They are wanted by the ICC on charges of crimes against humanity, committed after the start of the uprising against Gaddafi's regime in mid-February.
The ICC issued arrest warrants against Gaddafi, Seif and Senussi on June 27.
Interpol issued "red notices" for their arrest on September 9.
Seif was on Tuesday poised to cross into Niger along with Senussi, his father's ex-intelligence chief, a Tuareg official was quoted as saying.
Senussi has passed from Niger into Mali, security sources from both countries said on Thursday, with sources claiming he was under Tuareg protection.
It was not known whether Seif was travelling with his group.
Meanwhile, Nato decided on Friday to end its mission in Libya in three days, on October 31, declaring it fulfilled its "historic mandate" to protect civilians as it urged the new regime to build a democracy based on human rights.