[ad_1]
Seif al-Islam, the son of assassinated dictator Muammar Gaddafi, wants to “restore the lost unity” of Libya after a decade of chaos and does not rule out running for president.
He spoke in a rare interview with The New York Times in a lavish two-story villa inside a gated complex in Zintan, western North Africa.
For years, mystery had surrounded the precise fate of a man wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The 49-year-old, who before 2011 was considered his father’s alleged successor, said politicians in the decade that followed brought Libyans “nothing but misery”.
“It’s time to go back in time. The country, it is on its knees … There is no money, no security. There is no life here,” said Seif al- Islam when it first appeared in years.
After four decades in power, Muammar Gaddafi and his relatives were the target of a popular uprising in 2011.
Three of the dictator’s seven sons were killed, but the fate of Seif al-Islam, whose name means “sword of Islam” was unknown.
He was captured by a Libyan militia in November 2011, a few days after his father’s death.
Four years later, a Tripoli court sentenced him in absentia to death for crimes committed during the revolt.
The ICC has repeatedly called for him to stand trial.
Political return
Seif al-Islam, seen in this August 2011 photo, is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes committed during the 2011 Libyan uprising that saw his father, dictator Muammar Gaddafi, toppled and kill. By DARIO LOPEZ-MILLS (AFP / File) Until the interview, Seif al-Islam had not been seen or heard since June 2014, when he appeared by video link from Zintan during his trial in the Tripoli court.
Seif al-Islam said in the interview that he was a free man organizing a political comeback, and that his former captors “are now my friends”.
He told the newspaper that the militiamen finally realized he could be a powerful ally.
In recent years, Libya has been divided between two rival administrations backed by foreign forces and countless militias.
In October, after Turkey-backed forces of the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) routed those of eastern military strongman Khalifa Haftar, both sides agreed to a ceasefire. -le-feu in Geneva.
Since then, the security situation has slowly improved. A provisional government was formed in March and general elections are expected to take place on December 24.
Any eventual return of Seif al-Islam to Libyan politics would face obstacles, including his conviction by the Tripoli court and the ICC arrest warrant.
But Muammar Gaddafi’s son, educated in Britain, does not seem discouraged, according to the New York Times.
Seif al-Islam said “he was convinced that these legal issues could be resolved if a majority of the Libyan people chose him as their leader.”
The newspaper quoted him as saying, “I have been away from the Libyan people for 10 years. You have to come back slowly, slowly. Like a striptease. You have to play with their minds a bit.”
When asked if it struck him as odd to seek refuge in Libyan homes while on the run in 2011, he was as enigmatic as some of the views expressed in his late father’s “Green Book”.
“We are like fish and the Libyan people are like a sea to us,” replied Seif al-Islam.
“Without them we die. This is where we get support. We hide here. We fight here. We get support from there. The Libyan people are our ocean.”
Source link
