@rockyp9Jack Walraven
ICC confirms indirect talks with Saif Gaddafi. Claims he's 'innocent' and will prove it - CBSbit.ly/s0EGcA #Libya #ICC
ICC confirms indirect talks with Saif Qaddafi
Saif al-Islam Qaddafi, son of ousted Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, appears in front of journalists at his father's residential complex in the Libyan capital of Tripoli Aug. 23, 2011. (AFP/Getty Images)
(AP)
AMSTERDAM - The International Criminal Court is in indirect contact with slain Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi's son Saif al-Islam about the possibility of surrendering for trial, the chief prosecutor said Friday.
Luis Moreno-Ocampo told The Associated Press talks are being held through intermediaries whom he did not identify. He also said he did not know exactly where Saif al-Islam Qaddafi is.
The prosecutor said he believes unidentified mercenaries also are offering to find refuge for Qaddafi in an African country that does not cooperate with the court. He mentioned Zimbabwe as a likely possibility, and said the court was in contact with other countries to prevent his escape by denying overflight permission to any plane carrying him.
The 39-year-old son Said al-Islam was indicted in June for inciting crowds to murder during the early stages of the Libyan revolution.
"We are having informal conversations with Saif Qaddafi in order to see if he can be surrendered to the court," Moreno-Ocampo said in a telephone call from The Hague.
"We know he has a different option because apparently there is a group of mercenaries willing to move him to a country, probably Zimbabwe," the prosecutor said. Some of the mercenaries may be from South Africa, he said.
Qaddafi was pressing for clarifications about his fate should he be acquitted, and Moreno-Ocampo said he has made it clear to the fugitive that he could ask the judges to send him to a country other than Libya.
"He says he is innocent and he will prove his innocence," the prosecutor said.
