LIBYA: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi was betrayed to his captors by a Libyan nomad who says he was hired to help Muammar Gaddafi's son escape to neighbouring Niger on the promise he would be paid one million euros

Record ID: 803503

  • Title: LIBYA: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi was betrayed to his captors by a Libyan nomad who says he was hired to help Muammar Gaddafi's son escape to neighbouring Niger on the promise he would be paid one million euros
  • Date: 23rd November 2011
  • Summary: ZINTAN, LIBYA (NOVEMBER 22, 2011) (REUTERS) SAIF AL-ISLAM'S FORMER DESERT GUIDE, YUSSEF AL-HOTMANI, SITTING IN ROOM WITH MEMBERS OF ZINTAN REBELS AHEAD OF NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SAIF AL-ISLAM'S FORMER DESERT GUIDE, YUSSEF AL-HOTMANI, SAYING: "When we decided where the location for the ambush would be and with the co-operation of the brigades from al-Shaati and al-Zitan, both of them agreed this is the right place for the ambush." (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SAIF AL-ISLAM'S FORMER DESERT GUIDE, YUSSEF AL-HOTMANI, SAYING: "The site of the ambush was a deep hole in between the sand dunes. We tempted them to this location." (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SAIF AL-ISLAM'S FORMER DESERT GUIDE, YUSSEF AL-HOTMANI, SAYING: "I was in the first vehicle and the personal bodyguard of Saif al-Islam was next to me -- one of the biggest murderers." (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SAIF AL-ISLAM'S FORMER DESERT GUIDE, YUSSEF AL-HOTMANI, SAYING: "And in the second car behind me was Saif al-Islam about two or three kilometres. So we had time to eliminate the first vehicle and then we could eliminate the second vehicle." (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SAIF AL-ISLAM'S FORMER DESERT GUIDE, YUSSEF AL-HOTMANI, SAYING: "At first, we took down the first criminal (personal bodyguard). It didn't even take one minute, not more than 30 seconds." (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SAIF AL-ISLAM'S FORMER DESERT GUIDE, YUSSEF AL-HOTMANI, SAYING: "The second vehicle came -- SAIF AL-ISlam's car." (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SAIF AL-ISLAM'S FORMER DESERT GUIDE, YUSSEF AL-HOTMANI, SAYING: "The aiming of our guns was towards the main electricity cable of the vehicle. The car was disabled in one second." (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SAIF AL-ISLAM'S FORMER DESERT GUIDE, YUSSEF AL-HOTMANI, SAYING: "He tried to escape by getting out of the car. He tried to escape because this is what they do. But there was no escape." (SOUNDBITE) (English) JOURNALIST VOICE ASKING QUESTION: "Why did Saif need him? Just for a driver, or for a guide?" (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SAIF AL-ISLAM'S FORMER DESERT GUIDE, YUSSEF AL-HOTMANI, SAYING: "I was hired to guide them because I know the desert at night. They hired me to get them to the border, exactly to the Anai Triangle." SOUND OF MEN TALKING / AL-HOTMANI SEATED DURING NEWS CONFERENCE
  • Embargoed: 8th December 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Libya, Libya
  • Country: Libya
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Conflict,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAAVN7ER49FAIZA6M5EWEELE99T
  • Story Text: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi was betrayed to his captors by a Libyan nomad who said he was hired to help Muammar Gaddafi's son escape to neighbouring Niger on the promise he would be paid one million euros.
    Saif al-Islam, wanted for prosecution by the International Criminal Court (ICC), was captured at the weekend in what one official in the country's new government said was "the final chapter in Libya's drama."
    With a black scarf wrapped around his head, Yussef Saleh al-Hotmani said he contacted revolutionary fighters in Libya's south to inform them when Saif's two-car convoy would be passing through the area on the night of November 18.
    "When we decided where the location for the ambush would be and with the co-operation of the brigades from al-Shaati and al-Zitan, both of them agreed this is the right place for the ambush because the site of the ambush was a deep hole in between the sand dunes. We tempted them to this location. I was in the first vehicle and the personal bodyguard of Saif al-Islam was next to me - one of the biggest murderers," he said on Tuesday (November 19) in Zintan, where Saif al-Islam is being held at a secret location before the details of his prosecution are finalised.
    On the night of Saif al-Islam's capture, Hotmani said he was travelling with the younger Gaddafi's personal guard in the first car of their convoy.
    Ten fighters from Zintan, in the western mountains, and five from Hotmani's own tribe, al-Hotman, were waiting.
    "In the second car behind me was Saif al-Islam about two or three kilometres. So we had time to elimate the first vehicle and then we could eliminate the second vehicle. At first, we took down the first crimal (personal bodyguard). It didn't even take one minute, not more than 30 seconds. The second vehicle came. The aiming of our guns were towards the main electricity cable of the vehicle. The car was disabled in one second. He tried to escape by getting out of the car. He tried to escape because this is what they do. But there was no escape," he said, adding he had intentionally told Saif al-Islam's convoy to have the vehicles spaced 3 km (2 miles) apart to give the fighters time to regroup and for Hotmani to join them.
    Saif al-Islam, dressed in a long robe and a brown head scarf wrapped around his face, jumped out of the car, tried to run, but was captured, says Hotmani.
    It is unclear if Hotmani had planned to ensnare Saif al-Islam from the moment he linked up with the fugitive's group in the Sahara desert, or if he defected when he had doubts about his payment and feared that he might be killed.
    The Saharan nomad, who calls himself the "son of the desert", refused to give details on when or how he contacted the 15 fighters of the interim government who caught Saif al-Islam.
    The fighters allied to the National Transitional Council (NTC) who caught Saif al-Islam refer to Hotmani as a "hero."
    There was less than 5,000 dollars found in the two-car convoy and Hotmani said he was not paid a penny of the one million euros promised to him.
    Proclaiming to know several languages and having run a small tourism agency, Hotmani said he was hired as a desert guide for the group that included Saif al-Islam.
    "I was hired to guide them because I know the desert at night. They hired me to get them to the border, exactly to the Anai Triangle," said Hotmani.
    Why Saif al-Islam trusted the man who would eventually betray him is not clear but Hotmani said the younger Gaddafi, who had lost his father and three brothers in a revolutionary war that ended his family's rule, was in denial.
    Those who were with Saif al-Islam in the hours after he was captured paint a picture of a solitary man, calm and controlled.
    The commander of the fighters that conducted the ambush, Al-Ajami Ali al-Ateri, said that on the plane which transferred their prisoner to Zintan where he is being held, Saif al-Islam had asked if it had been the Hotmani that had tipped them off.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register