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    November 20, 2011

Libya to Discuss Trial Arrangements for Gadhafi Son with ICC

   VOA News
   Saif al-Islam Gadhafi is pictured sitting in a plane in Zintan, Libya,
   November 19, 2011. Photo: Reuters
   Saif al-Islam Gadhafi is pictured sitting in a plane in Zintan, Libya,
   November 19, 2011.

   Libya's transitional government is preparing for talks with the
   International Criminal Court about where to hold a trial for Seif
   al-Islam Gadhafi, the captured son of the late Libyan dictator Moammar
   Gadhafi.
   ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo says he will travel to Libya in a
   week to discuss arrangements for the trial.
   Libyan militiamen from the western town of Zintan captured Seif
   al-Islam before dawn Saturday in the country's southern desert. Libyan
   transitional authorities later chartered a transport plane to fly him
   to Zintan.
   Some Libyan officials have said they want the former heir apparent of
   Moammar Gadhafi to be tried in Libya.
   The Netherlands-based ICC issued arrest warrants for Seif al-Islam, his
   father, and the late dictator's intelligence chief in June, charging
   them with crimes against humanity for violently suppressing a
   pro-democracy uprising.
   Libyan transitional fighters captured and killed Moammar Gadhafi in his
   hometown of Sirte on October 20. The former intelligence chief remains
   at large.
   Libya's transitional Prime Minister Abdurrahim el-Keib visited Zintan
   on Saturday and praised the capture of Seif al-Islam as marking a new
   chapter for the country. Transitional forces launched the uprising in
   February and drove the senior Gadhafi out of Tripoli in August, ending
   the dictator's 42-year rule.
   Libyans celebrated Seif al-Islam's capture with gunfire in Tripoli and
   other cities.
   In a statement Saturday, the U.S. State Department said the capture and
   trial of Seif al-Islam 'would be another step away from a 40-year dark
   chapter in Libyan history' and help the Libyan people achieve 'the
   peaceful and democratic future they deserve.'
   Washington also urged Libya to treat all prisoners humanely and in
   accordance with international standards. Transitional fighters who
   seized Moammar Gadhafi in Sirte were seen beating him before he died,
   prompting international concern about his treatment in custody.
   The Libyan militiamen who captured Seif al-Islam say they got a tip
   that he would be traveling in a convoy on a desert track west of the
   Libyan town of Obari. They say they intercepted two vehicles in the
   area and identified Seif al-Islam before detaining him and several
   associates without a fight.
   Photographs of Seif al-Islam after his capture showed the 39-year-old
   with a thick beard and wearing brown robes and a turban in the style of
   ethnic Tuaregs. Several of his fingers were bandaged due to injuries he
   said were sustained in a NATO airstrike. Journalists who flew with him
   to Zintan said he otherwise was in good condition after several months
   on the run.
   Seif al-Islam's appearance marked a transformation from his former
   image as an internationally-respected, British-educated reformer in his
   father's autocratic government. He had become one of Libya's and the
   world's most wanted men for supporting Moammar Gadhafi's crackdown on
   the uprising.