How Seif al-Islam Qaddafi was captured

Seif al-Islam Qaddafi was immediately recognizable, his captors said, despite his attempt to disguise himself with a heavy beard, Tuareg robes and a turban while also claiming he was a camel herder.

“When we caught him, he said, ‘My name is Abdul Salem, a camel keeper,’“commander Ahmed Amur told The Guardian on Sunday. “It was crazy.”

The son of slain former Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi had fallen victim to a tip-off which led a small unit of fighters from the militia stronghold of Zintan to his capture.

“We knew it was a VIP target, we did not know who,” said Amur, who worked as a professor of marine biology in Tripoli before the war, The Guardian reports.

He was spotted on a desert track near the town of Obari, which lies astride roads leading to both Algeria and Niger. The fighters intercepted Seif and four armed companions driving in a pair of 4x4 vehicles at lunchtime on Friday.

“When we saw the first car we fired shots ahead of it, not to hit, as a warning. It stopped. Then the second car belonging to Seif came,” he said, speaking in English to the newpaper. “We shot warning shots, he (Seif’s car) stopped in the sand. Seif and his aide came out of the car,” Amur said.
Seif then threw himself face down and began rubbing dirt on his face when the fighters began to approach him on foot, Amur explained. “He wanted to disguise himself,” the commander added.

Later, images of Qaddafi’s notorious son had emerged on Libyan television, with his face covered in dirt.

Amur then told the newspaper that he raced up to Seif al-Islam, who was still on the ground, and ordered him to stand up. It was then the fugitive said he was a camel herder and called himself Abdul Salem – a plain but popular Libyan name which Seif evidently used as a last ditch attempt to hide.

“His face was covered (with dirt), I knew who he was,” said Amur, adding that Seif al-Islam then told the fighters to “shoot.”

When the rebels refused to shoot, and identified themselves, Seif al-Islam told them: “OK, shoot me, or take me to Zintan.”

But Amur said that killing Seif al-Islam was not on the fighters’ agenda. “We don’t kill or harm a captured man, we are Islam ... We have taken him here to Zintan. After that, our government is responsible.”

Seif al-Islam was far from the doctor of the London School of Economics who had frequently paraded around in sharp suits or casual wear as Qaddafi’s longtime heir apparent. He was also far from the man who sported a combat khaki T-shirt of his televised last stand in Tripoli a few months ago. Instead, Seif mirrored his late father’s penchant for dressing up.

The 39-year-old captive was then held in a safe house in Zintan, with reports that the townsfolk vowed to keep him safe until he can face a judge in the capital.

A spokesman for the fighters hailed Seif al-Islam’s capture as “the final act of the Libyan drama,” following the capture and killing of his father last month after an eight-month uprising against the dictatorship.

The National Transitional Council have promised a fair trial for Seif al-Islam and is under mounting pressure to ensure a fair trial for him after images emerged of his father dying following his capture on Oct. 20.

“At the moment, he is being held in Zintan. We are going to guarantee the treatment of prisoners under international law,” said Osama Juili, head of the Zintan military council.

Omran Eturki, another leader of Zintan council, told the Guardian that Seif must face trial in Zintan’s own courthouse. “We can try him, it will not take too long, we don’t need any new laws,” he said, referring to questions over Libya’s current legal uncertainty.

“They are Zintanis who captured him so they will have to have him here.”
He said Seif would get a fair trial and that it would be better to try him in Libya than send him to the international criminal court, which has charged Seif with crimes against humanity during the uprising.

“There is no point to make a revolution for justice, and then you become the same killers. All the people of Zintan want to see him have a proper trial,” Eturki said. “We don’t like to harm him. If we wanted to kill him we could kill him. We captured him so I think we have the right to try him.”

Source: AL ARABIYA