Egypt to try detained Gadhafi cousin, wanted in Libya

CAIRO – Agence France-Presse

A March 19, 2013, photo shows Ahmed Qaddaf al-Dam, cousin of slain Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi, smiling as he is escorted by Egyptian policemen. AFP photo

Egypt will try a cousin and top aide of slain Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi, on charges of attempted murder, although Libyan authorities are pressing for his extradition, Egyptian state media reported today.
Ahmed Qaddaf al-Dam, arrested in Cairo in March after a gunfight with police in his apartment, has been detained in Egypt since, despite Libyan demands for his extradition so he could be put on trial on forgery charges.
A judge referred Qaddaf al-Dam "to the Cairo criminal court on charges of attempted murder and resisting authorities and unlicensed weapons possession," the MENA news agency reported.
Tripoli had lodged an appeal earlier this month against an Egyptian court ruling blocking his extradition to Libya. The court ruled that Qaddaf al-Dam should be tried in Egypt.
On the day of his arrest, Qaddaf al-Dam and his bodyguards allegedly fired a hail of bullets at masked policemen who stormed his apartment in an upscale Cairo neighbourhood, a witness told AFP.
MENA reported a policeman was wounded in the exchange of fire.
The Libyan prosecutor's spokesman, Taha Baara, had told AFP that Tripoli issued an international arrest warrant for Qaddaf al-Dam for "forging documents."
Qaddaf al-Dam, who had an Egyptian residency permit, oversaw relations between Tripoli and Cairo but resigned from his post in February 2011 after the start of the revolt against Gadhafi.