adminwarning him yesterday he risks a mid-air interception if he tries to flee by plane to an African safe haven.
Confirming reports from Libya’s new leadership to Reuters that the fugitive son and heir-apparent of slain Muammar Gaddafi has been negotiating a possible surrender, the International Criminal Court said in a statement: “Through intermediaries, we have informal contact with Saif.”
It gave no details on Saif’s whereabouts but said it was “galvanising efforts” to arrest him and former intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi, both of whom Libyan officials have said are being sheltered by Tuareg nomads in the Sahara, in the borderlands of Libya and Niger.
“Additionally,” ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said, “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.
“The Office of the Prosecutor is also exploring the possibility to intercept any plane within the air space of a state party in order to make an arrest.”
Some observers suggest surrendering to the ICC may be only one option for Saif al-Islam (39) who may alternatively hope for a welcome in one of the African states his father helped. NTC officials have said Saif al-Islam might consider surrender his safest option given his father’s killing.
Officials with Libya’s National Transitional Council have said they believe African mercenaries, including from South Africa, were acting as bodyguards for Saif al-Islam as he took refuge in Bani Walid, a pro-Gaddafi bastion near Tripoli, and then fled south as his father was captured, abused and killed.
However, another report said Saif was now headed for Mali, travelling across the dunes separating Algeria from Niger with the help of desert nomads.
Col Gaddafi’s intelligence chief, Abdullah al-Senoussi is said to have arrived in Mali after making his way via Niger, an adviser to the Nigerian President, Mamadou Tandja said.
Niger’s presidential adviser said Mr Senoussi entered Mali on Wednesday night via the Kidal region, which shares a border with Niger. – Reuters/AP/The Herald.
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