Gaddafi son’s capture puts new Libya under test

ability to steer the country’s transition, analysts said yesterday.
Interim prime minister Abdel Rahim al-Kib has promised a “fair trial” for Saif, slain leader Muammar Gaddafi’s favourite son and one-time successor.
His capture by former rebel fighters in south Libya early on Saturday spelt “the end of the political influence of the Gaddafi clan and the psychological fear” they exerted over Libyans, said international law and Libya expert Saad Djebbar.
But he said “the greatest danger now is of division between the forces which toppled the father Gaddafi,” after the months-long hunt for Saif that had served to unite disparate military and political groups.
“The problem is he’s being held by one militia,” said Fred Abrahams of Human Rights Watch, referring to the former rebels who captured Saif and transferred him to their hometown of Zintan, southwest of Tripoli.
“I’m afraid that they hold him for political positioning. They’re trying to form the government and the militias might use him as a tool for their political positioning,” he said.
“And that could cause more tensions between factions and Libya’s attempt to create a new state based on human rights.”
A new interim government is to be announced by today “at the latest,” an official of the ruling National Transitional Council said just hours before Saif’s arrest was announced on Saturday. Kib has said the new government will be formed of technocrats but he has come under pressure from Libya’s tribes and numerous armed factions which are demanding a stake.
The handling of Saif’s case is “definitely a test after the way his father and brother were killed. Now this is a test that they can deal with him according to the law, not according to the street,” according to Abrahams.
The brutal end of Gadhafi and another son Mutassim, both killed after being captured last month, has increased concern in the international community over the fate of Seif.
But Ahmed Jibril, an adviser to the NTC, plays down the risks of a rift over Seif, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against hu-manity in fighting the anti-Gaddafi revolt. – AFP.