Niger hands Gadhafi's son Saadi over to Libya: Tripoli

TRIPOLI - Agence France-Presse

Saadi Gaddafi, the third son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi (portrait on left), speaks at a news conference in Sydney in this Feb 7, 2005, file photo. REUTERS photo

Niger has turned a son of the late ruler Moammar Gadhafi over to Libyan authorities, the Tripoli government said March 6 as a government-allied militia released pictures of him in captivity.

The government said Saadi Gadhafi, who fled across the Sahara desert to Niger during the 2011 uprising that saw rebels capture and kill his father, ending his four-decade dictatorship, had been taken into Libyan custody.

The Tripoli Revolutionaries Brigade, a militia made up of former rebels, released pictures on Facebook of the prisoner in a blue jumpsuit getting his head shaved.

The Libyan government said he would be held in accordance with "international standards regarding the treatment of prisoners."

Saadi Gadhafi was best known as the head of Libya's football federation and a player who paid his way into Italy's top division, appearing briefly in Serie A games for Perugia in 2003-04 and Udinese in 2005-06.

Interpol had issued a "Red Notice" for him, for "allegedly misappropriating properties through force and armed intimidation when he headed the Libyan Football Federation."

Libya had repeatedly called for the extradition of Gadhafi from Niger, which had granted him asylum since September 2011 on "humanitarian" grounds, saying it had insufficient guarantees Libya's new rulers would give him a fair trial.

Three of Gadhafi's sons were killed in the 2011 uprising, including Mutassim, who was killed by rebels on the same day as his father.

Several key members of the Gadhafi clan have survived, however, including Gadhafi's erstwhile heir apparent Seif al-Islam, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court but detained by a militia in Libya.

Former Libyan Olympic Committee chief Muhammad and Hannibal, who made headlines with his scandal-packed European holidays, are believed to be in Algeria, as is Gadhafi's daughter Aisha.
 
Around 30 senior regime officials are believed to have crossed into Niger at the same time as Saadi Gadhafi but the authorities in Niamey have not said how many remain in the country.