NIGER: Saif al Islam Gaddafi might have to surrender to the International Criminal Court to avoid being killed like his father and his brother, the vice president of Niger's Democratic Movement says
Record ID:
235341
NIGER: Saif al Islam Gaddafi might have to surrender to the International Criminal Court to avoid being killed like his father and his brother, the vice president of Niger's Democratic Movement says
- Title: NIGER: Saif al Islam Gaddafi might have to surrender to the International Criminal Court to avoid being killed like his father and his brother, the vice president of Niger's Democratic Movement says
- Date: 31st October 2011
- Summary: NIAMEY, NIGER (OCTOBER 30, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PEOPLE AND TRAFFIC ON STREETS (SOUNDBITE) (French) VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE NIGERIEN DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT (MODEN), HABI MAHAMADOU SALISSOU, SAYING: "If indeed, they are in talks with him, it's perhaps best that he goes of his own accord rather than to be hunted and caught by Libyans who will end up lynching him as they did his brother and his father." MORE OF STREET SCENES (SOUNDBITE) (French) HABI MAHAMADOU SALISSOU SAYING: "If Saif is in Niger I believe it (the country) will reach a solution through discussion, it will discuss with the ICC to work out the arrangements for his transfer to the ICC." VARIOUS OF STREET MARKET, MAN WASHING VEGETABLE (SOUNDBITE) (French) HABI MAHAMADOU SALISSOU SAYING: "Given that Niger is a signatory to the ICC, it is obliged to respect (its commitments) but it will do so while protecting the life of all those who find themselves on Nigerien soil." VARIOUS STREET SCENES (SOUNDBITE) (French) HABI MAHAMADOU SALISSOU SAYING: "Gaddafi was a real enigma, he is (was) a kind of person without equal, I have met him and I have seen he's (was) someone who can blow hot and cold, a necessary evil … because he could, at any time you needed him, be present and start wars and then stop them. I think with the time he understood it was not worthy for him anymore to make or create wars but that he was becoming more of a king for everybody.'' VARIOUS OF NIAMEY GRAND MOSQUE, A GADDAFI GIFT TO NIGER LIKE MOST MOSQUES IN THE COUNTRY
- Embargoed: 15th November 2011 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Niger, Niger
- Country: Niger
- Topics: Crime,Conflict,International Relations,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVABV7T1TZN3BGD1N2O32OLZBA0J
- Story Text: A senior member of Niger's coalition government told Reuters the whereabouts of Muammar Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam remained unknown, but that surrender was his best option.
The fugitive Libyan has been in indirect contact with the International Criminal Court over a possible surrender, though he may also harbour hopes that mercenaries can spirit him to a friendly African country.
"If indeed they are in talks with him, it's perhaps best that he goes of his own accord rather than to be hunted and caught by Libyans, who will end up lynching him as they did his brother and his father," Habi Mahamadou Salissou, vice-president of the Nigerien Democratic Movement (Moden), told Reuters.
Saif al-Islam, 39, is desperately seeking to avoid the fate of his father, former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who was beaten, abused and shot after forces of Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC) captured him on October 20 after the fall of his home town Sirte.
Saif al-Islam is on the run and may be heading for Niger.
"If Saif is in Niger I believe it (the country) will reach a solution through discussion, it will discuss with the ICC to work out the arrangements for his transfer to the ICC," Salissou said.
Niger has vowed to honour its ICC commitments, but knows that handing over Saif al-Islam could spark unrest in Saharan areas where his father, feted by many desert-dwellers as a hero, nurtured past Tuareg revolts against the capital.
"Given that Niger is a signatory to the ICC, it is obliged to respect (its commitments) but it will do so while protecting the life of all those who find themselves on Nigerien soil," said Salissou, a former minister.
He said he was convinced that any transfer of Saif al-Islam would not spark a new Tuareg rebellion in the country, pointing to recent efforts made by the government in Niamey to integrate Tuareg officials into positions of power, but acknowledged the deep imprint Gaddafi had left on Niger and its people.
"Gaddafi was a real enigma, he is (was) a kind of person without equal, I have met him and I have seen he's (was) someone who can blow hot and cold, a necessary evil … because he could, at any time you needed him, be present and start wars and then stop them. I think with the time he understood it was not worthy for him anymore to make or create wars but that he was becoming more of a King for everybody.'' The Hague-based ICC said Gaddafi's 39-year-old son Saif al-Islam was in contact via intermediaries about surrendering for trial, but it also had information that mercenaries were trying to spirit him to a friendly African nation.
Niger has declined to comment on statements this past week from local leaders in its remote north that Saif al-Islam was most likely already on its side of the mountain range that straddles the porous border with Libya, Algeria and Mali.
The ICC accuses Saif al-Islam of hiring mercenaries to carry out a plan, worked out with his father and former Libyan intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi, to kill unarmed protesters inspired by Arab uprisings elsewhere. Both Saif al-Islam and Senussi are wanted by the ICC for war crimes. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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