Muammar Gaddafi’s former spy chief Abdullah al-Senussi was taken into Libyan government custody yesterday after being extradited by Mauritania to face charges of crimes against humanity, officials said.

Soon he will undergo interrogation for the cases he has been charged with

Mr Senussi, among the most feared members of Gaddafi’s regime before rebels toppled it last year, was captured in the West African state in March, triggering a tug of war between Libya, France and the International Criminal Court for his extradition.

“The office of the prosecutor general has received Senussi and he will undergo a number of medical tests. Soon he will also undergo interrogation for the cases he has been charged with,” prosecutor general spokesman Taha Ba’ra said.

A heavily bearded Senussi, recognisable from his characteristic tightly curled hair, was shown in a press photograph getting out of a helicopter in Libya. Smiling slightly, a soldier stood behind him steadying him on the steps.

His extradition came after a high-level Libyan delegation, including the justice minister and army chief of staff, visited Mauritania on Tuesday and, a Mauritanian government source said, gave guarantees concerning Mr Senussi. It was not clear if there was a court decision sanctioning the extradition and the source declined to specify the nature of the guarantees.

Mr Senussi was arrested six months ago after arriving with a falsified Malian passport on a flight into the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott from Morocco. Mauritania’s original plan was to put him on trial for illegal entry – a move that threatened to delay efforts to have him face international justice.

A spokesman for the ICC, which has wanted to try Mr Senussi on charges of crimes against humanity including murder and persecution, said it had received no information about a handover to Libyan authorities in Tripoli.

In its warrant for Mr Senussi’s arrest, the Hague-based ICC said he had used his position of command to have attacks carried out against opponents of Gaddafi, who was hunted down and killed by rebels after his ouster in August 2011.

France has wanted to try Senussi in connection with a 1989 airliner bombing over Niger in which 54 of its nationals died.

Mr Senussi has also been linked to the 1988 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland of an American PanAm jet that killed 270 people. Diplomatic sources have said the United States was keen to question him about that attack.

Colonel Gaddafi’s son, Saif al-Islam, is to go on trial in Libya this month, a government source said in August, in what would be the most high-profile prosecution of a figure from the late dictator’s 42 years in power.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.