Muammar Gaddafi's son Saadi has been granted asylum in Niger on humanitarian grounds, the country's president confirmed on Friday.
Mahamadou Issoufou insisted he knew nothing of the whereabouts of another of the slain Libyan leader's sons, Saif al-Islam, who is wanted by the international criminal court (ICC).
"We have agreed on granting asylum to Saadi Gaddafi for humanitarian reasons," Issoufou said during a visit to Pretoria in South Africa.
Saadi, 38, and other Libyans who fled with him into Niger were being treated as refugees, he added. "But we have told them very clearly they cannot engage in political or subversive activities." » | David Smith in Pretoria | Friday, November 11, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Niger grants asylum to Saadi Gaddafi: Niger has risked the wrath of the new authorities in neighbouring Libya by granting asylum to Col Muammar Gaddafi's third son in defiance of an Interpol request for his extradition. ¶ Saadi Gaddafi, a bisexual playboy, was granted asylum on "humanitarian" grounds, the Niger president said, adding it was unlikely he would ever be extradited back to his home country. ¶ Saadi, who crossed into Niger in the last weeks of his father's regime, has been under house arrest in a state guest house in the capital, Niamey. » | Aislinn Lang, Pretoria | Friday, November 11, 2011
