TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) -- Moammar Gadhafi's son Seif al-Islam _ the only wanted member of the ousted ruling family to remain at large _ was captured as he traveled with aides in a convoy in Libya's southern desert, Libyan officials said Saturday. Thunderous celebratory gunfire shook the Libyan capital as the news spread.
In this image provided by the Zintan Media Center, Seif al-Islam Gadhafi (left) is guarded by a Libyan fighter as he is transported to Zintan, Libya, by a transport aircraft following his capture near the Niger border early Saturday. (AP-Yonhap News)
A spokesman for the Libyan fighters who captured him said Seif al-Islam, who has been charged by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity, was detained about 30 miles (50 kilometers) west of the town of Obari with two aides as he was trying to flee to neighboring Niger. But the country's acting justice minister later said the convoy's destination was not confirmed.
ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo told The Associated Press that he will travel to Libya next week for talks with the country's transitional government on where the trial will take place. Ocampo said that while national governments have the first right to try their own citizens for war crimes, he wants to make sure Seif al-Islam has a fair trial.
``The good news is that Seif al-Islam is arrested, he is alive, and now he will face justice,'' Ocampo said in an interview in The Hague. ``Where and how, we will discuss it.''
Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, at 39 the oldest of seven children of Moammar and Safiya Gadhafi, had long drawn Western favor in by touting himself as a liberalizing reformer in the autocratic regime but then staunchly backed his father in his brutal crackdown on rebels in the regime's final days.
He had gone underground after Tripoli fell to revolutionary forces and issued audio recordings to try to rally support for his father.
His capture just over a month after his father was killed leaves only former intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senoussi wanted by the ICC, which indicted the three men for in June for unleashing a campaign of murder and torture to suppress the uprising against the Gadhafi regime that broke out in mid-February.
``This is the day of victory, this is the day of liberation, finally the son of the tyrant has been captured,'' said Mohammed Ali, an engineer, as he celebrated on Tripoli's Martyrs' Square. ``Now we are free, now we are free, God is Great.''
Libyan state TV posted a photograph purportedly of Seif al-Islam in custody. He is sitting by a bed and holding up three bandaged fingers as a guard looks on, although it could not independently be confirmed where or when the picture was taken or how he was injured.
The murky circumstances surrounding the deaths of Gadhafi and another son Muatassim, and the decision to lay their bodies out for public viewing drew widespread criticism and raised questions about the commitment of Libya's new rulers to respecting human rights.
Marek Marczynski of Amnesty International urged the governing National Transitional Council to transfer Seif al-Islam to the ICC base in the Netherlands as soon as possible.
``The ICC has an arrest warrant out for him and that is the correct thing to do. He must be brought before a judge as soon as possible,'' he said. ``It matters for the victims. What they need to see is true justice. They need to know the truth about what happened.''
Interim Justice Minister Mohammed al-Alagi told The Associated Press that Seif al-Islam was detained deep in Libya's desert Friday night by revolutionary forces from the mountain town of Zintan who had been tracking him for days.
Seif al-Islam was being held in Zintan but would be transported to Tripoli soon, according to al-Alagi.
A spokesman for the Zintan brigades, Bashir al-Tlayeb, who first announced the capture at a press conference in Tripoli, said the NTC, which took over governing the country after Gadhafi was ousted, would decide where Seif al-Islam would be tried.
``Seif al-Islam was caught with two aides who were trying to smuggle him into Niger,'' al-Tlayeb said, adding that he had no information about al-Senoussi's whereabouts.
The justice minister, however, said Seif al-Islam was captured closer to the Algerian border and the convoy's destination was not known.
The White House said it was aware of the reports but had no immediate comment.
The International Criminal Court had earlier said that it was in indirect negotiations with a son of the late Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi about his possible surrender for trial.
ICC prosecutor Ocampo said jurisdiction should not be hard to determine.
``The rules are, primacy for the national authorities, depending on if they have a case,'' he said.
But he added that judges at the ICC would have to formally approve a transfer of venue, under international law.
Libya's Information Minister Mahmoud Shammam said the NTC had not taken an official position yet, but in his personal view, Seif al-Islam ``is an outlaw and should be tried in front of the Libyan Court, by Libyan people and by Libyan justice.''
The international community said the treatment of Seif al-Islam would be an important test for the role of rule of law in post-Gadhafi and key to reconciliation efforts, regardless of where he is tried.
``The Libyan authorities should now ensure that Seif al-Islam is brought to justice in accordance with the principles of due process and in full cooperation with the International Criminal Court,'' the European Union said in a statement.
<한글기사>
"내 머리에 쏴라"‥카다피 차남 생포 순간
리비아 독재자 무아마르 카다피의 후계자 1순 위였던 차남 사이프 알 이슬람이 19일 새벽 리비아 남부지역에서 체포된 뒤 자신을 죽여달라고 했다는 증언이 나왔다.
진탄 혁명군 부대 사령관인 알 아즈미 알 아티리는 사이프 알 이슬람이 체포된 뒤 `총으로 머리를 쏴 달라'면서 `시신은 진탄으로 보내달라'고 부탁했다고 전했다.
지난달 20일 시민군에 체포되는 과정에서 사살된 부친 카다피가 `살려달라'고 애원한 것과는 다른 모습이었던 셈이다.
체포시점과 장소는 현지시간 오전 1시30분께(한국시간 오전 8시30분) 리비아 사 하라 사막 남부의 우바리 부근 와디 알 아잘 지구였고, 체포 주체는 진탄 혁명군 부 대였던 것으로 전해졌다.
또 알 이슬람은 체포 과정에서 이렇다할 저항을 하지 않았으며, 풀어주는 대가 로 돈을 주겠다는 제안도 하지 않았다고 목격자들은 전했다.
체포 경위와 관련, 알 이슬람이 출국을 도와달라고 부탁한 가이드가 제보했다는 진술과 알 이슬람의 경호원이 제보했다는 주장이 엇갈리고 있다.
진탄 부대 사령관인 알 아티리는 `알 이슬람이 니제르로 도피하려 한다'는 경호 원의 제보를 받은 뒤 예상 도주로가 보이는 언덕에 중화기와 권총으로 무장한 병력 15명을 배치한 채 알 이슬람을 기다렸다고 소개했다. 결국 그곳을 지나가던 차량 2 대를 세워놓고 보니 알 이슬람이 타고 있었다고 알 아티리는 전했다. 차에서 내린 일행 일부가 도주를 시도했지만 사막의 모래에 발이 묶인 것으로 알려졌다.
차량 행렬이 멈춰 섰을 때 사이프 알 이슬람은 자신을 "압델살람(평화의 봉사자 )"이라고 말했지만, 혁명군 전사들은 곧바로 그가 카다피의 차남임을 알아차렸으며 교전 없이 체포했다고 한 부대원은 전했다.
또 진탄 혁명군 분파 대변인 아델 알 진타니는 "리비아 남부 국경 수비를 책임 진 진탄 혁명군이 이틀 전에 제보를 받았다"며 "제보 내용은 사이프 알 이슬람이 니 제르나 알제리로 탈출할 계획이라는 것이었다"고 소개했다. 알 이슬람이 알제리로 도주하려했는지, 니제르로 가려 했는지는 명확히 확인되지 않고 있다.
체포 당시 알 이슬람은 사막에서 수개월간 도피 생활을 하는 동안 영양 부족과 불안에 시달린 탓인지 두려움과 피로의 기색이 역력했던 것으로 전해졌다.
이송과정에서 찍힌 동영상을 보면 알 이슬람은 사하라 사막의 이슬람 유목민인 투아레그족의 예복과 터번을 착용한 상태였다. 또 평소처럼 수염을 기른 채 안경을 쓰고 있었으며, 오른손 손가락 3개에 붕대를 감고 있었다.
