Post date: Mar 19, 2012 3:33:5 PM
THE HAGUE, THE NETHERLANDS (MARCH 19, 2012) (REUTERS) - The United Nation's International Criminal Court has not yet received an official confirmation from Mauritanian authorities about the arrest of Muammar Gaddafi's intelligence chief Abdallah al-Senussi, indicted at the ICC for war crimes in Libya, the ICC spokesman said on Monday (March 19).
The Hague-based International Criminal Court requests Mauritanian authorities to surrender al-Senussi to the court, but has not received an official confirmation of his arrest yet.
But he said the court had contacted the authorities and requested them to surrender Senussi to the court if the reports were confirmed.
Senussi, 62, the last major Gaddafi associate on the run since the dictator's overthrow and death in a popular revolt last year, was arrested in Mauritania after his arrival late on Friday on a flight from Morocco.
Mauritania, however, has made no official statement on Senussi, accused of playing a central role in repression and torture under Gaddafi, apart from a brief report by its official state news agency.
"We are informed about the reports of the arrest of Abdallah al-Senussi, in Mauritania, he is one of the suspects against whom the warrant of arrest was issued in the context of the situation in Libya, so we contacted Mauritanian authorities and served warrant of arrest, notified them about the warrant of arrest and the request for confirmation of the reports and also surrender, cooperation order to surrender to the ICC and we didn't get the response from Mauritanian authorities to this moment," ICC spokesman Fadi El- Abdullah told journalists.
He said if the arrest is confirmed, judges might have to decide to which court Senussi will be handed to as France and Libya also seek custody of him.
"We will first need to see what will be the position of Mauritanian authorities, if the report is confirmed, and after that the issue of different requests to surrender maybe presented to the judges, I cannot anticipate on that for a time being," Fadi El- Abdullah said.
The ICC has indicted him for crimes against humanity, but Libya also wants him to face local justice. While Mauritania is not a signatory to the ICC, the court says it is bound to cooperate with it by a U.N. Security Council resolution.
France, 54 of whose nationals were killed in the bombing of a UTA airliner over Niger in 1989, is also seeking Senussi, who was sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment for his alleged role in the attack.