Libya challenges court’s right to try Gaddafi son

The Libyan government has challenged the International Criminal Court’s right to try Muammar Gaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam for war crimes, the court said yesterday.
By The Newsroom
Published 2nd May 2012, 07:00 BST

The Hague is authorised by the United Nations to try war crimes committed during Libya’s civil war.

It has issued an arrest warrant for Saif al-Islam on charges of murdering and persecuting civilians in the early days of the uprising that toppled his father’s regime last year.

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The court said it has received a formal submission from Libya’s new regime arguing that Saif al-Islam should be tried on Libyan soil.

Meanwhile, French President Nicolas Sarkozy has said a former top aide to Muammar Gaddafi is living in France with government permission. The ex-aide, Basher Saleh, is a target of US sanctions.

Mr Sarkozy told RMC radio: “Saleh is in France.”

He said the French government decided to take Saleh in after consulting with Libyan authorities.