Warning: Undefined array key "rbname" in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 14
Hello !
Recent Appearances... Rantburg

Africa North
Libyan Court Adjourns Abdullah Al-Senussi’s Trial
2022-06-23
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]

Mr. Al-Senussi is Moammar Qadaffy's cousin and former spy-chief. He’s been in jail in Libya since 2012.
Related:
Abdullah Al-Senussi: 2014-11-03 Ibrahim Jadhran turns down Libya Dawn oil terminal deal
Abdullah Al-Senussi: 2013-04-21 Still no access to lawyer for Senussi
Abdullah Al-Senussi: 2012-04-09 Libya will not hand Seif Al-Islam to ICC
Link


Africa North
Tripoli Court again postpones trial of Baghdadi Al-Mahmoudi
2013-06-14
[Libya Herald] A court in Tripoli has once again adjourned the trial of Qaddafi's last prime minister, Al-Baghdadi Al-Mahmoudi, and those charged with him -- Al-Mabrouk Zamhoul and Amer Tirfas -- this time to 7 August.

The court agreed to the delay following a request from Tirfas' defence laywer who had recently been appointed and needed of time to review the case.

The three are facing charges of having taken actions leading to the murder of Libyan citizens and of embezzlement, in particular transferring €15 million to private accounts in Tunisia to pay for logistic support for the former regime, along with other accusations of financial and administrative irregularities.

Mahmoudi, who was wearing blue prison clothes in court, faces separate charges including association with criminal groups and incitement to rape. They are not being examined in the present case.

Zahmoul and Tirfas are said to have been senior officials in an investment company run by Seif Al-Islam.

Speaking after the adjournment, prosecution spokesman Sadiq Al-Sur was quoted as saying that "three to four billion Libyan dinars were used by the accused during the insurrection to corrupt politicians, both at home and abroad, in order to gain their support for the regime".
Link


Africa North
Fair Qaddafi trial in Libya impossible: ICC lawyer
2012-07-07
THE HAGUE: A war crimes lawyer who was detained in Libya for three weeks on spying allegations said on Friday her experience showed it was impossible for the son of slain dictator Muammar Qaddafi to get a fair trial in his home country.
And who would know more about fair and speedy trials than the ICC?
I guess it all depends on your definition of "fairness," doesn't it?
Melinda Taylor, who was assigned to assist Seif Al-Islam Qaddafi defend himself before the International Criminal Court (ICC), was imprisoned in Zintan along with three colleagues last month after being accused of smuggling documents to her client which her captors said threatened national security.

Her ordeal came as The Hague-based court was preparing to rule whether Libya is capable of offering Seif Al-Islam a fair trial for war crimes he allegedly committed during the NATO-backed revolt that toppled his father last year. He denies the charges.

Libya has so far refused to extradite him, saying it would prefer to try him in its own courts and has challenged the ICC's jurisdiction.
Possession is at least 9/10's, remember, particularly once you've hanged him...
But Taylor, an Australian, said her experience showed Seif Al-Islam had no chance of receiving a fair trial in Libya.
'Fair' is in the eyes of the beholder...
"These recent events have completely underscored that it will be impossible for Mr. Qaddafi to be tried in an independent and impartial manner in Libyan courts," she told reporters in The Hague. "The rights of my client were irrevocably prejudiced during my visit to Zintan."

Taylor spent three weeks in a prison in the western mountain city of Zintan after meeting Seif Al-Islam, who is being held at a secret location by Zintanis, on June 7.

Authorities in Zintan, which is only loosely under the control of the interim government in the capital Tripoli, had made it impossible for her to defend Seif Al-Islam effectively, she added, confiscating privileged documents and listening in on conversations meant to be confidential.
But they weren't planning to turn Seif over to you so it's not a big deal...
Libya is not a member of the court, but the ICC was granted jurisdiction by the UN Security Council last November.

Taylor and her colleagues, from Lebanon, Russia and Spain, were only released after 26 days when the ICC issued a carefully-worded apology to Libyan authorities.

Libyan authorities accused Taylor of smuggling documents that endangered national security, charges she denied. On Friday, Taylor said all the documents were legitimate and relevant to Seif Al-Islam's case however, and that Libya had violated his right to privileged contact with a lawyer.

An internal inquiry at the court - which was founded a decade ago to try war crimes around the globe - is looking into her imprisonment.
Gee, wonder what they'll decide?
She works for the ICC's office for the defense, which represents suspects in the initial stages of their trial and was visiting Qaddafi to advise him on his choice of defense lawyer.
Johnnie Cochran wasn't available?
The ICC employees were held in a prison surrounded by tanks for almost three weeks and were allowed one five-minute telephone conversation with their families, Taylor said.
Link


Africa North
Libya builds case against Seif
2012-04-22
TRIPOLI: Libya says it is building its case against Muammar Qaddafi's detained son, gathering witnesses and documents, according to The Hague-based war crimes prosecutor, as it seeks to persuade the International Criminal Court to allow for a local trial.
'Persuade'? They have him jugged. It's the ICC that has to do the persuading if they want the trial at the Hague.
The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Seif Al-Islam last year after prosecutors accused him and others of involvement in the killing of protesters during the revolt that eventually toppled his father, who ruled with an iron fist for 42 years. It has called on Libya to hand Seif Al-Islam over but Tripoli has insisted he will be tried in his home country after his capture in the southern desert in November.

ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo traveled to Libya this week as part of ICC investigations into crimes committed during Libya's war, meeting the head of the ruling National Transitional Council and chief prosecutor.

"I understand he has more than 30 witnesses, he's got documents, he has interceptions, so I understand he has a strong case but I don't know the details," Moreno-Ocampo told a news conference yesterday, adding he had not seen the information as it remains confidential at this stage of the investigation."Libya has to present the argument to the judges."
No they don't...
Tripoli is to outline its case to the ICC on April 30 as to why it should put Seif-Al Islam on trial.

Libya has the right to try him on its soil following his arrest there. The ICC will only act if a country is deemed unable or unwilling to investigate or prosecute, for instance when its legal system has collapsed.

Moreno-Ocampo said it seemed unlikely any trial would transpire before Libya's first free elections in June.

"There is no deadline for the judges. I suppose two, three months but in the meantime I don't see a trial in Libya before that because the process requires first an accusation."

Several human rights groups have questioned whether the Libyan justice system can meet the standards of international law as the interim national government struggles to impose its authority on a myriad of armed groups. The Libyan government has yet to convince the former Zintan rebel fighters who captured Seif Al-Islam to turn him over to its custody.

Moreno-Ocampo said he was told that Qaddafi's son had not been mistreated. "(Saif's location) is a matter for the national authorities. Respecting Saif's well-being is also matter for the national authorities," he said.

Moreno-Ocampo added that it was critical for Libyans who fought against the injustices of the Qaddafi regime to now show they could "respect justice for a person like Saif."

The ICC is also investigating rapes committed during Libya's conflict. Moreno-Ocampo, who traveled to Misrata -- scene of some of the bloodiest fighting last year, said his mission was considering how to tackle the taboo subject, looking at gathering evidence against top officials of the old regime, some of whom are outside Libya.

While there have been allegations of rape used as a weapon during the fighting, it remains unclear how widespread violence against women was. Rape is a highly sensitive issue in the Muslim country and is rarely discussed in public.

"Libya has to give recognition to these people, because if not, it will be double punishment -- they were raped and now they are marginalized," Moreno-Ocampo said.
Link


Africa North
Libya will not hand Seif Al-Islam to ICC
2012-04-09
TRIPOLI: Libya will not send Seif Al-Islam Qaddafi, the most prominent son of the country's former leader, to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, but will put him on trial in his own country, Justice Minister Ali Ashour said on Sunday.

Seif Al-Islam remains in a secret prison in the custody of the Zintan rebels who caught him last year and will be tried in Libya by Libyan judges on charges of financial corruption, murder and rape, Ashour told Reuters.

Despite the ICC's demands that he be sent to The Hague for trial, "there is no intention to hand him (Seif Al-Islam) over to the ICC, and Libyan law is the right system to be used to try Saif Qaddafi," Ashour said.
Seif, buddy, you'd better open a bigger bag of Kruegerrands...
He denied allegations of mistreatment made by an ICC defense lawyer, who said this week that Seif Al-Islam had been beaten and had been misled about the charges against him. "He eats with the people who guard him, and he is in good condition," he said.

Pressure is mounting on Libya to hand Qaddafi's son to the ICC as human rights organizations say the country is unable to give him a fair trial.
Then again, the ICC can't give anyone a fair trial if by fair you include a timeline that proceeds faster than geologic...
An ICC delegation arrived in Tripoli on Sunday to discuss Seif Al-Islam's case with the justice ministry, Libya's representative in the ICC, Ahmad Al-Jahani, told Reuters.

Ashour said his ministry had prepared a prison for Seif Al-Islam and negotiations were under way with the Zintan rebels to transfer him to Tripoli.

The ICC says it has jurisdiction over the case because it issued warrants last year for the arrest of Muammar Qaddafi, Seif Al-Islam and intelligence chief Abdullah Al-Senussi, who was arrested last month in Mauritania. A UN Security Council Resolution obliges Libya to cooperate with the court, the ICC says, and Tripoli's failure to hand over Seif Al-Islam could result in it being reported to the Council.
Which would then do what? I think this is what the ICC really fears, that it would be show to be toothless.
Seif Al-Islam faces the death penalty if found guilty by a Libyan court and a prison term if convicted by the ICC.

On Wednesday, the ICC ordered Tripoli to "comply with its obligations to enforce the warrant of arrest" and surrender Seif Al-Islam to the court's custody without delay. The ICC had earlier given Libya until Jan. 10 to say whether and when it would surrender Seif Al-Islam and to provide information about his health, then extended the deadline to February.

Ashour declined on Sunday to give details of how Seif Al-Islam would be tried or of preparations for his trial, saying only that the judicial committee responsible for the trial had not yet been created.
"Carla del Ponte to the yellow courtesy phone, Ms. del Ponte..."
Link


Africa North
International court tells Libya to hand over Seif
2012-04-05
THE HAGUE, Netherlands: The International Criminal Court has told Libyan authorities to surrender former dictator Muammar Qaddafi's son -- wanted by the permanent tribunal for crimes against humanity.
If I were running Libya, my answer would be a curt 'no'. I'd tell the ICC that as a sovereign country, Libya is perfectly capable of trying and executing a man who had murdered many of his countrymen. I would then accuse the Euros of being imperialists for implying that Libya can't dispense justice. Then I'd watch the Euros squirm...
Yes, but you are devious and cynical, unlike the simple, well-armed Libyan rebels, who firmly believe all they've been told about international organizations.
Seif Al-Islam Qaddafi was arrested in November by rebel fighters in Libya's remote southern desert, and has been held largely without access to the outside world since then.

Libyan authorities say they plan to put him on trial, and -- despite requests from The Hague -- have so far taken no action to hand him over.
Hmm... Perhaps I was wrong about their simplicity.
In a written ruling published Wednesday, judges at the court rejected a request by Libya to postpone handing over Seif and urged the country's rulers to "proceed immediately with the surrender."

Seif's father also was indicted by the court but was killed by rebel fighters in October.
The Libyans are gonna wish they'd just whacked Seif by the time this is over.
Link


Africa North
Former Qaddafi stronghold revolts against revolution
2012-01-25
BANI WALID, Libya: Libya’s ramshackle government lost control of a former stronghold of Muammar Qaddafi on Tuesday after local people staged an armed uprising, posing the gravest challenge yet to the country’s new rulers. Elders in Bani Walid, where militias loyal to the ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) were driven out in a gun battle a day earlier, said they were appointing their own local government and rejected any interference from the authorities in the capital Tripoli.

The town’s revolt will heighten doubts in the West about the NTC government’s ability to instil law and order crucial to rebuilding oil exports, to disarm tribal militias and guard Libyan borders in a region where Al-Qaeda is active.

Local elders denied reports that they were loyal to Qaddafi, who was captured and killed in October after weeks on the run, and Reuters reporters in Bani Walid saw no signs of the Qaddafi-era green flags which witnesses earlier said had been hoisted over the town.
Perhaps they're just loyal to his memory. It's hard to be loyal to a corpse...
But the collapse of NTC authority in the town, one of the most die-hard bastions of pro-Qaddafi sentiment during Libya’s nine-month civil war last year, will compound the problems besetting a government that in the past week has been staggering from one crisis to another.

Reuters reporters who entered Bani Walid on Tuesday morning saw a few of the black, green and red flags of last year’s anti-Qaddafi rebellion but there was no sign of any central government presence.

About 200 elders who gathered in a mosque decided to abolish an NTC-appointed military council for the town and appoint their own local council, in direct defiance of the authority of the government in Tripoli.

“If (NTC chief Mustafa) Abdel Jalil is going to force anyone on us, we won’t accept that by any means,” one of the elders, Ali Zargoun, told Reuters at the mosque.

Accounts from Bani Walid, a town about 200 km (120 miles) from Tripoli, late on Monday described armed Qaddafi supporters attacking the barracks of the pro-government militia in the town and then forcing them to retreat. A fighter with the routed pro-government militia told Reuters the loyalists were flying “brand new green flags” from the center of town. The flags were symbols of Qaddafi’s maverick, 42-year dictatorship.

But elders on Tuesday disputed that account.

“In the Libyan revolution, we have all become brothers. We will not be an obstacle to progress,” said another elder, Miftah Jubarra. “Regarding allegations of pro-Qaddafi elements in Bani Walid, this is not true. This is the media. You will go around the city and find no green flags or pictures of Qaddafi.”

Bani Walid, base of the powerful Warfallah tribe, was one of the last towns to surrender to the anti-Qaddafi rebellion last year.

A Libyan air official said war planes were being mobilized to fly to Bani Walid. But it was not immediately clear what the government in Tripoli could do. It has yet to demonstrate that it has an effective fighting force under its command and Bani Walid, protected behind a deep valley, is difficult to attack.

During Libya’s nine-month war, anti-Qaddafi NTC rebels tried to take Bani Walid but did not progress much beyond the outskirts of the town. It later emerged that Seif Al-Islam, one of Muammar Qaddafi’s evil spawn sons who was captured in the Sahara desert in November, had been using Bani Walid as a base.

Soon before the end of the conflict, with Qaddafi’s defeat unavoidable, local tribal elders negotiated an agreement under which forces loyal to the NTC were able to enter the town without a fight. Relations have been uneasy since then and there have been occasional flare-ups of violence.

A local resident, who did not want to be identified, said Monday’s violence began when members of the May 28 militia, affiliated to the NTC, arrested some former Qaddafi loyalists. That prompted other supporters of the former leader to attack the militia’s garrison. “They massacred men at the doors of the militia headquarters,” said the resident.
Link


Africa North
ICC accepts Seif Al Islam trial in Libya: minister
2012-01-24
[Emirates 24/7] Libya said Monday the International Criminal Court
... where Milosevich died of old age before being convicted ...
 has accepted that Seif Al Islam, slain dictator Moamer Qadaffy's son, will be tried by Libyans, a claim which was quickly denied by the tribunal.

"The ICC has accepted that Seif al-Islam will be tried in Libya by the Libyan judiciary," Libya's Justice Minister Ali H'mida Ashur told AFP.

"The trial will take place in Libya. The Libyan justice is competent and we gave the file (on Seif) to the ICC on Friday," Ashur added.

The Hague-based ICC, however, denied Ashur's claims.

"The ICC has made no decision on this matter," court front man Fadi el-Abdallah told AFP.

Seif, who was locked away on November 19, is in the custody of the military council of Zintan, a town 180 kilometres (110 miles), southwest of Tripoli.

He is also wanted by the ICC on charges of crimes against humanity allegedly committed during the conflict in Libya.

The ICC had given Libya until January 23 to mull the possible handing over of Seif al-Islam.

Last month ICC judges had called on Libya's new leaders to inform them as a matter of urgency if and when they intend to hand over Seif and set a January 10 deadline for a response.

But later in a letter, Libya asked for an extension, citing security situation in the country even as it expressed its intentions to prosecute Seif on Libyan soil.

The New-York based Human Rights Watch
... dedicated to bitching about human rights violations around the world...
, in its World Report 2012, has raised concerns over Libya's judicial system.

"Libya's interim government and its international supporters should make it an urgent priority to build a functioning justice system and begin legal reform that protects human rights
...not to be confused with individual rights, mind you...
 after Moamer Qadaffy," the group said in the report.

Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch said in the report that "independent courts and the rule of law will help ensure stability in a country emerging from four decades of dictatorship and eight months of war."
Link


Africa North
Weeks needed to disband Libyan militias: Defense chief
2011-12-20
TRIPOLI: It will take weeks to rid Libya's streets of the militias that ousted Muammar Qaddafi, and months to form an army fit to take their place, Defense Minister Osama Al-Juwali said Monday.

His comments signaled a rift with others in Libya's interim leadership who have called repeatedly for the heavily armed militias that swept into Tripoli in August to quit the capital and set them a deadline of the end of this month.

"I think this issue will be resolved in a month and a half, approximately. I'm not setting any deadlines," Al-Juwali said in an interview with Reuters.

Two months after Qaddafi was captured and killed, real power resides with the militias that ousted him and have since carved up the country and capital into competing fiefdoms, each holding out for the share of power they say they are owed.

Turf wars risk spiraling out of control.

Al-Juwali was endorsed by Libya's National Transitional Council as defense minister in November, thanks largely to the clout wielded by the rebels he commanded in the western mountain town of Zintan. The Zintan fighters played a major role in the fall of Tripoli. They now control the international airport and the fate of Seif Al-Islam Qaddafi, the ousted leader's most prominent son, who was captured by Zintan fighters on Nov. 19.

Without a fully functioning army or police, Libya's interim government is struggling to stamp its authority on the oil-producing North African country.

Senior officials, including commanders of the nascent army, have called on the gun-toting militias to return to their homes, and the council in Tripoli has set a deadline of end-December.

Zintan fighters have already fought gunbattles with the commander of Libyan ground forces and his sons. The army spokesman blamed "rogue militias" and said they would "clear the city of weapons."

But Al-Juwali conveyed no sense of urgency. He said the government was working on a plan, but provided few specifics.

"There is a general plan to bring the fighters in," he said. "Part of them will join the Defense Ministry, others the Interior Ministry. There is another plan at the Ministry of Labor to rehabilitate and train these fighters, and I think this plan will be approved soon."
That way they can have dueling ministries, not just dueling militias...
"I think the army will be ready to take on its responsibilities before the end of the transitional government," said Al-Juwali. The interim government is due to rule until an election mid-next year.

Al-Juwali said the government was analyzing the needs of the national army and what hardware it might seek from abroad. He mentioned military transport planes, specifically US-made C-130 transport aircraft.

In the meantime, the Western powers behind the NATO air war against Qaddafi's forces are pressing for the weapons that swept through the country to be secured and accounted for, fearing they might fall into the hands of religious extremists.

"Libya could enter the Guiness Book of World Records, it has so many weapons," Al-Juwali said. "By the time this government ends, we will have the weapons under control and in safe places, and the revolutionaries (former rebel fighters) will help collect them."
Link


Africa North
Qaddafi son to be tried in Libya: ICC prosecutor
2011-11-24
TRIPOLI, Libya: The International Criminal Court’s (ICC) prosecutor says Muammar Qaddafi’s son Seif Al-Islam, who is being held by revolutionary fighters, will be tried in a Libyan court by Libyan judges.

The prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, conceded on Tuesday that the Libyans have the authority to try Seif Al-Islam at home but he wants judges from the Netherlands-based court to be involved.
Still trying to grab control.
Moreno-Ocampo says the ICC will help Libya establish the judicial framework for the trial, which many Western busybodies hope expect to be a bellwether of the new Libyan government’s ability to uphold the rule of law.
If the 'rule of law' in the new Libya is to execute those who committed crimes against humanity, will the ICC denounce them? Of course they will.
Seif Al-Islam, once the face of reform in Libya and the leader of his father’s effort to shake off pariah status, is charged with crimes against humanity by the ICC for the crackdown on an uprising that began in February and grew into a civil war.

“Seif is captured so we are here to ensure we get a piece of the pie cooperation,” Moreno-Ocampo told reporters after arriving in Libya. “If they (Libyans) prosecute the case, we will discuss with them how to inform the judges, and they can do it, but our judges have to be involved.”
Says who?
The ICC has also charged ex-intelligence chief Abdullah Al-Senussi with crimes against humanity for the brutal crackdown on an uprising that began in February.

Libyan Justice Minister Mohammed Al-Alagi said Wednesday that he can’t confirm reports that Al-Senussi is in custody. Moreno-Ocampo also said he believed the former intelligence chief Abdullah Al-Senussi had not been captured.

Officials from Libya’s National Transitional Council (NTC) said on Sunday that Senussi, who is also Qaddafi’s brother-in-law, had been captured the day after Qaddafi’s son Seif Al-Islam was caught. He is believed to be held in a secret location in the southern city of Sabha.
They're waiting for the ICC to go home...
Libya’s prime minister-designate, Abdurrahim El-Keib, later cast doubt on the reports, and the NTC has since neither confirmed nor denied Senussi’s capture, though a military commander has stood by his report of the arrest.
Link


Africa North
Tidbits on the capture of Seif al-Islam
2011-11-21
New tidbits on the capture of Seif:
"The final act of the Libyan drama," as a spokesman for the former rebels put it, began in the blackness of the Sahara night, when a small unit of fighters from the town of Zintan, acting on a tip-off, intercepted Seif Al-Islam and four armed companions driving in a pair of 4x4 vehicles on a desert track.

It ended, after a 300-mile flight north on a cargo plane, with the London-educated younger Qaddafi held in a safe house in Zintan and the townsfolk vowing to keep him safe until he can face a judge in the capital.

His captors said he was "very scared" when they first recognized him, despite the heavy beard and enveloping Tuareg robes and turban he wore. But they reassured him and, by the time a Reuters correspondent spoke to him aboard the plane, he had been chatting amiably to his guards.

"He looked tired. He had been lost in the desert for many days," said Abdul Al-Salaam Al-Wahissi, a Zintan fighter involved in the operation. "I think he lost his guide."
Link


Africa North
Libyan spy chief captured
2011-11-21
TRIPOLI: Abdullah Al-Senussi, Libya's feared former intelligence chief, was cornered and captured at a remote desert homestead on Sunday, a day after Muammar Qaddafi's son was seized by Libyan fighters in the same region.

A commander of former rebel forces nominally loyal to the National Transitional Council (NTC), General Ahmed Al-Hamdouni, told Reuters that his men, acting on a tip, had found and surrounded Senussi at a house belonging to his sister near the town of Birak, about 500 km (300 miles) south of Tripoli and in the same general area as Seif Al-Islam was seized on Saturday.

NTC spokesman Abdul Hafez Ghoga later confirmed that Senussi, who is Seif Al-Islam's uncle by marriage, had been captured. It was not immediately clear if the arrests were linked, though there has been speculation since the fall of Tripoli three months ago that the pair were hiding together.

Fighters who intercepted Seif Al-Islam on a desert road in the early hours of Saturday said they believed one of his companions was also a nephew of Senussi, whose wife is a sister of Muammar Qaddafi's second wife Safiya.

Like Muammar Qaddafi, who was captured and killed on the coast a month ago on Sunday, Seif Al-Islam and Senussi were indicted this year by the International Criminal Court for alleged plans to kill protesters after the Arab Spring revolt erupted in February.

But NTC officials have said they can convince the ICC to let them try both men in Libya. Ghoga said NTC members meeting on Sunday had confirmed that preference, as did the current justice minister -- although legal experts point out that international law demands Tripoli make a strong case for the right to try anyone who has already been indicted by the ICC.
Possession is 9/10ths, folks. The accused are Libyan nationals and the new Libyan government is internationally recognized as such. It's their business unless they choose to involve the ICC.
Given the state of Libya's legal system after 42 years of dictatorship, as well as the depth of feelings after this year's civil war, the ICC may not agree. Its chief prosecutor is expected in Libya this week.
Can you say, 'persona non grata'?
While the ICC, backed by a UN resolution, can demand Libya hand over the prisoners, many Libyans are keen to see them tried for alleged crimes committed over decades, well beyond the scope of the ICC charges relating to this year only. And many also want them hanged, something barred at The Hague.
And that's exactly why the Euros want them--hanging is icky, you see.
Among other old wounds, Senussi is suspected of a key role in the killing of more than 1,200 inmates at Tripoli's Abu Salim prison in 1996. It was the arrest of a lawyer for victims' relatives that sparked Libya's Arab Spring revolt in February. And many of the dead were members of Islamist groups which are expected to be a major political force in a democratic Libya.

The case of Senussi, long the elder Qaddafi's right-hand man and enforcer, may also revive interest in international incidents long shrouded in mystery, from the days in the 1980s and 90s when Qaddafi's Libya waged undercover war on the West. Senussi's name has been linked with the Lockerbie bombing of 1988. He was among six Libyans convicted in absentia in Paris of bringing down a French UTA airliner a year later.
Link



Warning: Undefined property: stdClass::$T in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 132
-12 More