ICC: Saif al-Islam to be tried in Libya

The new Libyan transitional government has been given a stamp of approval by the international criminal court.

The ICC had earlier issued a warrant for Colonel Gaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam.

But they now say they have confidence, that the new government can deal with his trial, internally.

Abdullah al-Senussi, Gaddafi’s former spy chief, is also to be put on trial.

He was captured alive by revolutionary fighters not far from where Saif al-Islam was seized a day earlier.

France has said it may ask for his extradition in relation to an airliner bombing in 1989.

Louis Moreno-Ocampo, ICC chief prosecutor:

“Libya is now established, it is a new government and they have the right to prosecute Saif and Sennussi here, and in according to our rules the primacy is with the national system. If they conduct the proceedings, the court will not intervene.”

It has not been all plain sailing for the new government however, as a number of Libya’s clans have said they will refuse to recognise the new government.

Colonel Gaddafi who ruled the country for over 40 years had been an expert at managing the tribes, but now regional rivalries are beginning to revive which threaten the countries stability.

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