ICC Denies Deal for Gadhafi Son to be Tried in Libya
The International Criminal Court denied Monday that it had agreed that Seif al-Islam, slain Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi's most prominent son, be tried in Libya.
"The ICC has made no decision on this matter," court spokesman Fadi el-Abdallah told Agence France Presse in response to a claim by Libya's Justice Minister Ali H'mida Ashur that Seif would be judged by a Libyan court.
The ICC said earlier in a Twitter message that it had received a reply from the Libyan authorities to questions asked by its judges by a Monday deadline.
"The ICC has accepted that Seif al-Islam will be tried in Libya by the Libyan judiciary," Ashur told AFP.
"The trial will take place in Libya. The Libyan justice is competent and we gave the file (on Seif) to the ICC on Friday," Ashur added.
Seif, who was arrested on November 19, is in the custody of the military council of Zintan, a town 180 kilometers, southwest of Tripoli.
He is wanted by the ICC on charges of crimes against humanity allegedly committed during the conflict in Libya.
The international court had asked Tripoli in December to say by January 6 "if and when" Seif would be handed over for trial in The Hague. That deadline was extended to January 23 at Libya's request because of the "security situation" in the country since the fall of Gadhafi in October.
Source: Agence France Presse
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