Gaddafi’s son Saif captured! Picture shows him in prison cell with ‘missing fingers’
There were scenes of joy in Tripoli today after Muammar Gaddafi’s son and heir apparent Saif al-Islam was captured in the southern desert of Libya.
He was arrested with several bodyguards near the town of Obari by fighters based in the western mountain town of Zintan.
A photograph, released earlier this afternoon, shows him sat in a prison cell on a bed, under a blanket, with heavily bandaged fingers. It appears to reveal he is now missing several fingers on his right hand – backing up previous reports he had the digits blown off in an attack. He was flown to Zintan, where upon landing a mob tried to storm his aircraft.
He will be tried in Libya, rather than being sent to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
He said he felt fine after being captured by some of the fighters who overthrew his father, and said injuries to his right hand were suffered during a NATO air strike a month ago. Asked on the plane which flew him to the town of Zintan if he was feeling all right, Gaddafi said simply: ‘Yes.’ Reluctant to speak at length, the London-educated son of Muammar Gaddafi was asked about bandages on the thumb and two fingers.
‘Air force, air force,’ he said Asked if that meant a NATO air strike, he said: ‘Yes. One month ago.’ Aides to Gaddafi said his motorcade was caught by a NATO air strike as he tried to flee the pro-Gaddafi stronghold of Bani Walid, near Tripoli, on October 19, the day before his father was captured and killed in his home town of Sirte.
After the brief exchange with the heavily bearded prisoner, journalists who met Saif said they had no doubt that it was indeed him – though he repeatedly declined to confirm his identity outright.
So great was the crowd which thronged the Soviet-built cargo aircraft that flew him up from the desert town of Obari that his captors removed four other prisoners and other people from the plane, leaving Saif al-Islam still on board on the tarmac.
The country’s interim justice minister said Saif and several bodyguards were captured near the town of Obari, 400 miles south of Tripoli, by fighters based in the western mountain town of Zintan. 
They had been trying to flee to neighbouring Niger.
No other senior figures from the ousted administration were caught. ‘We have arrested Saif al-Islam Gaddafi in the Obari area,’ Justice Minister Mohammed al-Alagy said. He added that the 39-year-old, who is wanted for crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court at The Hague, was not injured. There was no word of the other official wanted by the ICC, former intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi. The news broke and fighters from Zintan, a powerful faction among the many armed groups currently dominating Libya while the NTC tries to form a new government, started celebrating in Tripoli. Bashir Thaelba, a Zintan field commander who had called a news conference on another issue, told reporters in the capital that Gaddafi would be held in Zintan until there was a government to hand him over to. The government is due to be formed within days.
‘The rebels of Zintan announce that Saif al-Islam Gaddafi has been arrested along with three of his aides today,’ Thaelba said in remarks carried on Libyan television. ‘We hope at this historical moment that the future of Libya will be bright.’ The European Union has urged Libyan authorities, despite the NTC’s decision to try him in Libya, to ensure he is brought to justice in full cooperation with the International Criminal Court. A spokesman for the EU’s foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said his arrest was a ‘significant development’ that could help national reconciliation after a bloody civil war. Michael Mann said: ‘The Libyan authorities should now ensure that Saif al-Islam is brought to justice in accordance with the principles of due process and in full cooperation with the International Criminal Court. ‘It is important for future national reconciliation that those responsible for human rights violations committed both before and during the recent conflict are brought to justice.’
*However, this is not the first time reports regarding Saif’s capture have circulated in Libya. As rebel forces drove into the heart of Tripoli on August 22, fighters claimed Saif had been detained.
That report, which was later confirmed by the International Criminal Court (ICC), would later be proven false, as Saif met with journalists a day later. And as the siege of Sirte was coming to an end on October 20, it was widely reported that Saif had either been killed or captured. Despite those rumors, it was later determined he had successfully managed to flee the city.
Likewise, Saif’s younger brother Khamis was also subject to numerous reports regarding his death that later proved to be unfounded. Khamis was first said to have been killed during a bombing raid on his family’s Bab Al Aziziya Compound in Tripoli on March 20. Al Arabiya confirmed the report, citing unnamed sources. After that report was disproven, a rebel spokesman then falsely claimed that Khamis died during an August 5 airstrike. However, reports that he was killed when a NATO helicopter destroyed a convoy he was traveling in on August 29 would later be confirmed by pro-Gaddafi forces.
While Saif had vowed to die fighting in Libya, it was widely speculated that he had fled to Niger on October 28. And while those rumors were never verified, Niger’s President Mahamadou Issoufou did confirm last Saturday that his country would grant asylum to Saif should he request it.
A dignified Saif: Now a shadow of himslf
The man Saif Gadaffi
Born in 1972, Saif (pictured right) is the oldest of seven children. He earned an engineering degree in Libya and a business degree in Austria before wrapping up his education with a master’s degree and doctorate at the London School of Economics in 2008. His engagement in Libyan politics began in the 1990s, when he became the president of the Gaddafi International Foundation for Charity Associations. The organisation has acted as an intermediary in several disputes and helped lead to a rapprochement between Libya and the international community. He often acted as an envoy for his father’s regime, and in 2002 and 2003 helped broker the agreement that saw Libya renounce its weapons of mass destruction program and begin its journey back into the international fold. He lobbied militants to release hostages, funded research at the London School of Economics, welcomed world leaders and Western intellectuals to his country and portrayed himself as a champion of economic and social reforms. In 2009, he aided talks in Britain that eventually secured the release of Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, the only man convicted in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. A 2009 U.S. diplomatic cable released by the website WikiLeaks said his high-profile role as the public face of the regime to the West has been a mixed blessing for him. It added: ‘While it has bolstered his image … many Libyans view him as self-aggrandizing and too eager to please foreigners at the expense of Libyans’ interest.’ Source: Daily Mail
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