Kadhafi spymaster taken, Seif to be tried in Libya

TRIPOLI: Moamer Kadhafi's spymaster Abdullah Senussi was arrested on Sunday, Libyan officials announced and said that the dead dictator's son captured the previous day would face trial in Libya.

Ignoring world pressure, Libya's interim rulers insisted that Seif al-Islam, Kadhafi's one-time heir apparent, would be tried inside Libya rather than at the International Criminal Court at The Hague.

World powers, fearful that Seif would not be given a fair trial after his father was felled by a bullet to the head after being captured exactly a month ago, are urging Libya to work with the ICC.

The court wants to try the 39-year-old for crimes against humanity allegedly committed by Kadhafi's forces in crushing anti-regime protests in February.

But the NTC insists that Seif will face trial at home.

"The decision is that he will be tried by Libyan courts. It is a question of national sovereignty," NTC vice chairman and official spokesman Abdel Hafiz Ghoga told reporters.

Interim justice minister Mohammed al-Allagui earlier told Kadhafi's son would be tried in Libya "because local justice is the rule and international justice is the exception".

"We have the necessary guarantees for a fair trial, especially after the amendment of a law that guarantees the independence of the judiciary as regards the executive," he said. (AFP)