Libya: Gaddafi Son Ready To Surrender But Wants Plane

A source in the National Transitional Council on Thursday said that Saif al-Islam, the fugitive son of slain Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi wants a plane to take him out of the Libyan desert so he can surrender to the war crimes tribunal in The Hague.

Saif al-Islam fled a week ago from the rebel fighters after they killed his father. Officials in the Council have claimed Saif al-Islam is ready to surrender as well as the former head of Libyan intelligence Abdullah Sanusi. The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for two men. They face charges of crimes against humanity for the way they handled the Libyan uprising which erupted in February.

There were conflicting reports about the whereabouts of Saif al-Islam since his disappearance from Bani Walid, another Gaddafi’s stronghold in the north. Some reports said he was in Niger with the Sanusi. It was not possible to verify the authenticity of the information.

Meanwhile, a Tunisian lawyer told Reuters that a local court has released the former Libyan Prime Minister Baghdadi Al Mahmoudi who was detained in Tunisia. The transitional government of Libya has demanded his extradition.

Mahmoudi fled Libya after the collapse of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime. Mahmoudi began a hunger strike in early October to protest his detention. He had said in an interview with Reuters earlier this month through his lawyer he did not engage in acts of repression during the era of Gaddafi and wants to cooperate with the transitional government of Libya.