Tuesday, March 26, 2013


Muammar Gaddafi's Family Take Refuge in Oman

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Oman, a British ally in the Gulf has offered refuge to close relatives of Muammar Gaddafi, including his wife and a hated playboy son, officials from Tripoli and Muscat revealed on Monday.


Safia Gaddafi, the dictator's widow and three of his children left a hideaway in Algeria last October, more than a year after they crossed the border from Libya.

Mohammad Abdulaziz, Libya's foreign minister, said that the group had accepted political asylum from Oman and conceded it was difficult to foresee their return to Libya, where several face criminal charges.

Sultan Qaboos, Oman's ruler, is a Sandhurst-educated Anglophile who last week hosted a three-day visit by the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall and he is close to several members of the Government.

The Gaddafi group includes the former leader's daughter Aisha, a lawyer who made headlines around the world with her campaigns on behalf of Saddam Hussein.

The most notorious member of the group is Gaddafi's son Hannibal. He is wanted for alleged human rights abuses by the new authorities in Tripoli.

Another son, Mohammad, is the son of the dictator's first wife, but despite being the head of the Libyan Olympic committee, he is not associated with the worst excesses of the regime. » | Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent | Monday, March 25, 2013