Tripoli, Paris, and The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) all competed yesterday to put Libya’s ex-spy chief on trial after he was picked up in Mauritania.
Our courts are very good, even excellent especially in Tripoli
France and the ICC have submitted demands for the extradition of Abdullah Senussi, brother-in-law to slain dictator Muammar, a Mauritanian official said. Interpol, the international police organisation, announced it had submitted a similar demand at Libya’s request.
Meanwhile, a delegation from Libya’s ruling National Transitional Council is expected in Mauritania soon to demand that the 62-year-old fugitive be handed over to Tripoli for trial.
Mr Senussi, one of the former Libyan regime’s most feared men, was detained on Friday night at Nouakchott airport after arriving on a regular flight from Casablanca in Morocco, using a false passport.
A Mauritanian official said yesterday that his country has so far received two requests for Mr Senussi’s extradition.
“One from France arrived on Saturday and the second from the ICC on Sunday,” the Mauritanian source told AFP.
Interpol meanwhile announced it had issued a so-called “red notice” for Mr Senussi on behalf of Libya “for fraud offenses including embezzling public funds and misuse of power for personal benefit”.
Libya’s Justice Minister Ali Hmeida Ashur told AFP on Sunday that his country was determined to try Mr Senussi.
“Our courts are very good, even excellent, especially in Tripoli and we are able to carry out his trial according to international standards,” he said.
Amnesty international on Saturday said that Mr Senussi should be tried by the ICC in the absence of a functioning judiciary in Libya.
Mauritanian legal expert Brahim Ould Ebetty warned that the extradition requests would have to be examined by a court and a final decision could “take some time if rules and procedures are followed.”
French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Saturday hailed the arrest and called for Mr Senussi’s extradition to France, his office said.
Mr Ebetty said France has “the best argument to make” for extradition.
Mr Senussi faced an international arrest warrant after a Paris court sentenced him in absentia to life imprisonment for involvement in the downing of a French airliner in 1989.