Saif al-Islam, son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi (Pic:Reuters)
Saif al-Islam, son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi (Pic:Reuters)
Begging for mercy and pleading not to be shot, ­Colonel Gaddafi’s once defiant son was finally captured yesterday... stuck in the desert sand.
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The fingers of his right hand wrapped tightly in bandages, ­fugitive Saif al-Islam Gaddafi later cut a humbled and ­dejected figure ­as he cowered on a prison bed after a month on the run.
The playboy prince – wanted for crimes against humanity – was ambushed early ­yesterday by ­Libyan troops who traced him to the desert at Obari, 400 miles south of the capital Tripoli.
Sky News footage of Saif Gaddafi (Pic: Sky)
He tried to flee – but his car got stuck, forcing him to give himself up. Then he begged them not to shoot him.
Saif is the last key member of former Libyan leader Colonel ­Gaddafi’s family to be captured or killed. His arrest ­followed a night of fierce clashes between militiamen ­and Gaddafi loyalists in an oasis town near the Niger border.
Ahmed ­al-Zintani, one of Saif’s captors, said his unit of 15 men in three ­vehicles, ­acting on intelligence reports, ­stopped two cars carrying Gaddafi and four ­others. Gaddafi was in the second vehicle.
Saif, Gaddafi’s oldest son, ­pretended he was somebody else, but the ­fighters ­quickly recognised him. ­
Terrified of meeting the same fate as his dead father and brother Mutassim, he begged: “Please don’t shoot me, please don’t shoot me!”
Libyans celebrate the capture of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi
Mr al-Zintani said: “Atthe ­beginning he was very scared. He thought we would kill him.
“When the first car came forward we surrounded them and they didn’t resist.
“Then the second car came up. They tried to escape and they got stuck in the sand. Saif came out with three others.”
It was a low-key end – in contrast to Saif’s bravado over the summer when he appeared on TV to boast he ­remained free and claimed: “We have broken the backbone of the rebels.”
The captive, once heir-apparent to his evil father, was flown to an army base in the town of Zintan, 85 miles southwest of Tripoli.
Libyans celebrate the capture of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi (Pic: Rex)
During the flight he insisted to journalists he was ­“feeling fine” – but the pictures of him told a ­different story.
Some reports said he was ­suffering from anaemia and malnutrition after a month as a fugitive.
A mob tried to storm the plane as it landed. The crowd was held back by police for an hour before Gaddafi could be brought off the plane.
His capture was greeted with celebrations and gunfire across Libya. Gaddafi had reportedly been trying to flee to Niger, where he was expected to be ­offered asylum, despite being ­indicted by the ­International Criminal Court for the bombing and ­shooting of ­protesters in February.
He was last seen on ­October 20 – the day his ­father was killed in Sirte. Libya’s ruling ­National ­Transitional ­Council has ­insisted it will try war criminals in Libya and not extradite them to the ­International Criminal Court.
Libyans celebrate the capture of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi (Pic: Rex)
But they face huge pressure to send him to The Hague for trial. Gaddafi faces the death penalty if tried in Libya. Prime Minister David Cameron said of his capture: “It is a great achievement for the Libyan people and must now ­become a victory for international justice too.”
Libya’s PM designate Abdurrahim El-Keib said last night: “We assure Libyans and the world that Saif al-Islam will receive a fair trial... under fair legal processes which our own people had been deprived of for the last 40 years.”