Gaddafi Trial -- Like Father, Like Son?

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of Libya's deposed leader Muammar Gaddafi, is set to go on trial in Tripoli today. Libya's new authorities insist that it will be fair and not a 'Mickey Mouse' trial, all the while refusing to extradite Saif to face charges in the International Criminal Court (ICC). Can he really expect justice and a fate different from his father's in a country that is on the brink of anarchy? And does the international community have the political will to enforce justice in what is increasingly perceived to be its toothless paper tiger? John Jones, Saif al-Islam's lawyer in the ICC, joins Oksana to mull over these issues.

Settling Scores: Gaddafi's Son Faces Trial in Libya, Fair Hearing Doubtful

The son of the late Libyan dictator Colonel Gaddafi will stand trial today on charges of killings, allegedly committed during the country's 2011 civil war. The hearings are taking place in Tripoli as Libya has defied numerous requests from the International Criminal Court to hand Saif Al-Islam over to The Hague. The authorities insist they will ensure a fair trail but as RT's Paula Slier reports, many doubt that promise.

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi: The New Face of Libyan Defiance
THE GUARDIAN: Colonel Gaddafi's son was educated in London and has friends in the City and Westminster. Or he did until last week

Geneva places a high premium on guarding secrets, but rumours are a different currency. Amid momentous scenes being played out across the Middle East last week, sources in the Swiss financial centre were privately gossiping about a visit to Geneva earlier this year by Farhat Bengdara, the governor of the Central Bank of Libya.

According to one popular rumour, Bengdara had visited Geneva with a purpose. He was there to make changes to key Swiss accounts, into which flow hundreds of millions of dollars of Libyan oil money that are then allocated to the Libyan Investment Authority and the Libyan Central Bank.

Financiers in Geneva gossip that, as far back as 17 January, Bengdara established that four new names would be added as signatories on three crucial accounts controlling much of the money. The signatories were Colonel Muammar Gaddafi; his son Khamis, who heads Libya's infamous martyrs' battalion; the Libyan leader's daughter Aisha; and his son Saif al-Islam.

Where Libya's petro-dollars may have been channelled in the weeks since tensions first erupted across the Arab world is hard to say. But those who know him would be surprised if Saif did not hold the answers.

The westernised 38-year-old, who studied at the London School of Economics and enjoys close friendships with senior British politicians and financiers, has become the focal point of the conflict now threatening to rip Libya apart.

Whereas Gaddafi senior has always been seen in the west as a dictator – albeit one brought back into the fold – Saif, a trained architect who established a medical charity and was considered his father's heir apparent, held out the promise of a new dawn.


As far back as 2002, Saif told an interviewer that Libya needed democracy. "It's policy number one for us. First thing democracy, second thing democracy, third thing democracy," Saif said, using a rhetorical technique he was to repeat last week to far more sinister effect. >>> Jamie Doward | Saturday, February 26, 2011

BP Admits 'Lobbying UK Over Libya Prisoner Transfer Scheme But Not Lockerbie Bomber'
THE TELEGRAPH: BP is facing fresh scrutiny into whether it was involved in the release of the Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi, after the oil giant admitted lobbying the British government over a prisoner agreement with Libya.

Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet Al Megrahi, left, after his release, with Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi's son Seif al-Islam. Photo: The Telegraph
BP said it pressed for a deal over the controversial prisoner transfer agreement (PTA) amid fears any delays to negotiations would damage its “commercial interests” and disrupt its £900 million offshore drilling operations in the region.

But it denied claims that it had been involved in negotiations concerning the release of Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber freed by Scottish authorities last year.

The admission came just hours after Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, pledged to investigate allegations of BP's involvement in his release ahead of its planned new drilling in Libya.

It followed a letter from four US senators who had accused the company of having a hand in the release of Megrahi, who was released last year by the Scottish government on "health grounds" and compassionate grounds.

Mrs Clinton’s intervention came after the American Democratic senators called for an investigation into BP’s interests in Libya, as they tried to connect the oil group with a deal to free the convicted terrorist.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the company admitted it had lobbied the British Government over the controversial prisoner deal but denied any involvement in Megrahi’s release.

“It is matter of public record that in late 2007 BP told the UK Government that we were concerned about the slow progress that was being made in concluding a prisoner transfer agreement with Libya,” the company said in a statement.

“We were aware that this could have a negative impact on UK commercial interests, including the ratification by the Libyan Government of BP's exploration agreement.”

But a spokesman added: “The decision to release Mr al-Megrahi in August 2009 was taken by the Scottish Government. >>> Andrew Hough | Thursday, July 15, 2010

Related video here

Kadhafi veut se réconcilier avec ses islamistes
Seif al-Islam, fils aîné du deuxième mariage de Mouammar Kadhafi, chef du camp réformateur et héritier putatif de son père. Photo : Le Figaro
LE FIGARO: Le fils du guide libyen a annoncé la libération de trois chefs djihadistes et de deux cents militants.

Le régime libyen est décidé à pardonner à ses islamistes. Tripoli a annoncé mardi soir la libération de 214 militants de la cause djihadiste dont certains étaient incarcérés depuis plus de dix ans.

«C'est un moment historique», a affirmé Seif al-Islam, le fils de Mouammar Kadhafi, à l'origine de cet élargissement de masse des membres du Groupe islamique des combattants libyens (Gicl). Ce mouvement, un temps rallié à al-Qaida, fut très actif dans les années 1990. À ses côtés, en guise de symbole, s'affichaient Abdelhakim Belhaj, l'émir du Gicl, Khaled Chrif, son chef militaire, et Sami Saadi, l'idéologue, tous fraîchement libérés.

Cette ouverture est le point d'orgue de la politique de «réconciliation nationale» voulue par Seif al-Islam. «L'idée vient de l'Algérie qui a démontré qu'une telle mesure est possible sans apporter de changement au régime», souligne Luis Martinez, directeur de recherche au Centre d'études et de recherches internationales (Ceri). >>> Par Tanguy Berthemet | Jeudi 25 Mars 2010