THE HAGUE: The International Criminal Court is in “informal contact” with slain Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s fugitive son Saif al-Islam over his surrender , the court’s prosecutor said on Friday.
“Through intermediaries , we have informal contact with Saif,” Luis Moreno-Ocampo said in a statement. “The office of the prosecutor has made it clear that if he surrenders to the ICC, he has the right to be heard in court, he is innocent until proven guilty,” Moreno-Ocampo said. “The judges will decide.”
But Moreno-Ocampo said his office learned through informal channels that a group of mercenaries were offering to move Saif to an African state not party to the ICC’s founding document , the Rome Statute.
“The office of the prosecutor is exploring the possibility to intercept any plane within the airspace of a state party in order to make an arrest,” he said.
Saif, 39, and Gaddafi’s security chief and brother-inlaw Abdullah al-Senussi , 62, are the most wanted fugitives from the slain despot’s ousted circle.
They are wanted by the ICC on charges of crimes against humanity.
