Tripoli: The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said on Thursday that Libya has evidence linking a son of deposed ruler Muammar Gaddafi to recruiting mercenaries and executing people.
The Hague-based court is in a dispute with Libya over who should try Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, once considered his father`s heir apparent. He was captured last year in Libya after a civil war that toppled the Gaddafi regime.
Luis Moreno-Ocampo said the Libyan government has until the end of April to present a case to the court to back its demand to try him.
The international court indicted him in June along with his father and the Gaddafi regime`s intelligence chief, Abdullah al-Senoussi, on charges of killing and persecuting civilians in the early days of the uprising that eventually brought down Gaddafi`s four-decade dictatorship.
Moreno-Ocampo said his court has evidence linking the son of Gaddafi to supervising and planning recruitment of mercenaries to fight the uprising.
"The Libyan general prosecutor has more evidence that confirms our reports and even more that links Saif to more crimes, some (where) he was involved in with his own hands as he executed people," Moreno-Ocampo said.
He declined to elaborate, saying the files were confidential.
Prosecutors were praised for their swift action last year in indicting Gaddafi, Saif al-Islam and al-Senoussi, but the court`s efforts to administer justice in Libya have been stymied by Gaddafi`s death, Libya`s refusal to surrender his son and uncertainty over the fate of al-Senoussi, who was arrested in Mauritania last month.
Moreno-Ocampo said additional Libyan officials are expected to be indicted over crimes committed during the rebellion.
Human Rights Watch said on Thursday it expects the ICC prosecutor to press Libya to hand over Saif al-Islam to the court for trial.
Bureau Report
