Niger grants asylum to Saadi Gaddafi
Son of Muammar Gaddafi is being treated as refugee in Niger, confirms President Mahamadou Issoufou
David Smith in Pretoria
guardian.co.uk, Friday 11 November 2011 18.44 GMT
Saadi Gaddafi has been banned from engaging in political or subversive activities, according to the Nigerien president. Photograph: Tim Wimborne/Reuters=================================================
Son of Muammar Gaddafi is being treated as refugee in Niger, confirms President Mahamadou Issoufou
David Smith in Pretoria
guardian.co.uk, Friday 11 November 2011 18.44 GMT
Saadi Gaddafi has been banned from engaging in political or subversive activities, according to the Nigerien president. Photograph: Tim Wimborne/Reuters=================================================
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."
Saadi crossed the border into Niger in August after the fall of Tripoli that ended his father's four-decade rule. Libya's interim government wants Saadi to stand trial for crimes allegedly committed while he led the country's football federation.
Saif al-Islam, who was Gaddafi's heir apparent, is a bigger concern and still on the run, possibly in the vast desert plains where Libya and Niger meet. He is sought by the ICC in relation to alleged crimes against humanity during the regime's crackdown against protesters.
Niger is a signatory to the ICC but Issoufou refused to guarantee that Saif al-Islam would be handed to the court, should he be found in Niger. "We cannot tell where Saif is," he said. "If Saif comes into Niger, you will know then the position of the Niger government.
"For the time being he is not there. We have granted asylum to Saadi as one of the sons of Gaddafi. Niger is a state of law, it is also a democratic state; we will deal with those issues in the sense of the role we have, the democracy we have, in accordance with international agreements."
A source close to Issoufou ruled out any possibility of extraditing Saif al-Islam to Libya, because he said the National Transitional Council cannot be trusted. "We are a democracy and we have seen how Gaddafi and his son were murdered. It would not be safe to send any members of the family there," he added.
The source also declined to comment on whether Saif al-Islam would be surrendered to the ICC.
Issoufou and South African president Jacob Zuma, who spearheaded failed African efforts to mediate a solution in Libya, discussed the conflict and other issues during the two-day visit.
Issoufou expressed concern that Niger's army has clashed repeatedly with arms traffickers from Libya. "We are very worried because this crisis will destabilise the whole region," he continued.
Military experts have raised concerns about Gaddafi's stockpile of surface-to-air missiles. A stretch of lawless desert separating Libya from Niger and Mali has been used by arms smugglers and drug traffickers for decades.
Issoufou said a clash on Sunday that left one soldier and six arms traffickers dead was not the first. He said 13 captured traffickers are being interrogated to confirm their nationalities and determine where they were heading with a large cache of arms. "Niger wasn't their final destination," he added.
Issoufou also expressed concern for the safety of Nigerien citizens in Libya, many of whom have been targeted as real or suspected mercenaries.
"We have migrant workers still in Libya," he said. "We are very preoccupied by their situation. We have explained various times to the NTC our preoccupation with their wellbeing. We have requested they take care of them, not only citizens of Niger but citizens of the whole sub-region."
Some 250,000 Nigerians who had been working in Libya and sending money to their families have returned since the unrest there, he added
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."
Saadi crossed the border into Niger in August after the fall of Tripoli that ended his father's four-decade rule. Libya's interim government wants Saadi to stand trial for crimes allegedly committed while he led the country's football federation.
Saif al-Islam, who was Gaddafi's heir apparent, is a bigger concern and still on the run, possibly in the vast desert plains where Libya and Niger meet. He is sought by the ICC in relation to alleged crimes against humanity during the regime's crackdown against protesters.
Niger is a signatory to the ICC but Issoufou refused to guarantee that Saif al-Islam would be handed to the court, should he be found in Niger. "We cannot tell where Saif is," he said. "If Saif comes into Niger, you will know then the position of the Niger government.
"For the time being he is not there. We have granted asylum to Saadi as one of the sons of Gaddafi. Niger is a state of law, it is also a democratic state; we will deal with those issues in the sense of the role we have, the democracy we have, in accordance with international agreements."
A source close to Issoufou ruled out any possibility of extraditing Saif al-Islam to Libya, because he said the National Transitional Council cannot be trusted. "We are a democracy and we have seen how Gaddafi and his son were murdered. It would not be safe to send any members of the family there," he added.
The source also declined to comment on whether Saif al-Islam would be surrendered to the ICC.
Issoufou and South African president Jacob Zuma, who spearheaded failed African efforts to mediate a solution in Libya, discussed the conflict and other issues during the two-day visit.
Issoufou expressed concern that Niger's army has clashed repeatedly with arms traffickers from Libya. "We are very worried because this crisis will destabilise the whole region," he continued.
Military experts have raised concerns about Gaddafi's stockpile of surface-to-air missiles. A stretch of lawless desert separating Libya from Niger and Mali has been used by arms smugglers and drug traffickers for decades.
Issoufou said a clash on Sunday that left one soldier and six arms traffickers dead was not the first. He said 13 captured traffickers are being interrogated to confirm their nationalities and determine where they were heading with a large cache of arms. "Niger wasn't their final destination," he added.
Issoufou also expressed concern for the safety of Nigerien citizens in Libya, many of whom have been targeted as real or suspected mercenaries.
"We have migrant workers still in Libya," he said. "We are very preoccupied by their situation. We have explained various times to the NTC our preoccupation with their wellbeing. We have requested they take care of them, not only citizens of Niger but citizens of the whole sub-region."
Some 250,000 Nigerians who had been working in Libya and sending money to their families have returned since the unrest there, he added
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guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/11/saadi-gaddafi-asylum-niger?newsfeed=true
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