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| Saif Gaddafi (left) |
The son of Colonel Gaddafi gave direct orders for opponents of the Libyan regime to be killed, telephone wire taps have revealed.
More than 12,000 tapes of conversations between the toppled dictator's inner circle were made between February and June last year, as Gaddafi's long-standing reign began to collapse.
In one of them, due to be broadcast by Al Jazeera in a series starting tonight, Saif Gaddafi can be heard telling a senior aide he will 'send people to liquidate' rebel fighters in the eastern port city of Tobruk.
Tayeb El Safi warns the dictator's 39-year-old son - whose capture was a pivotal moment in the Libyan uprising - about 'traitors' at the Abdel Nasser airbase, which fell into the hands of rebel forces in mid-February last year.
Saif, who was educated at the London School of Economics, tells El Safi: 'If you also have people there, send them to the base to kill them.'
The recordings could prove important as Libya and the International Criminal Court tussle over which of them should try Saif Gaddafi and the slain dictator's former intelligence chief for war crimes.
Lawyers in the Hague believe the North African nation's legal system is still too unstable to give the two men a proper trial. If found guilty in Libya, they will face the death penalty.
Luis Moreno Ocampo, chief prosecutor of the ICC, called the tapes 'fascinating' and said they were evidence that Saif played a prominent role in the ruthless crackdown on rebels.
He said: 'Saif was the boss, he was giving direct orders to kill, to liquidate them. This is new for me, this type of evidence... It is important to show the direct involvement of these people.'
Mr Ocampo wants Al Jazeera to submit the recordings, obtained by journalist Hoda Hamid, for the consideration of prosecutors in Libya.
Source: Daily Mail, May 11, 2012
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