Gaddafi's Son May Surrender Rather than Fight to the Death
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of deceased Libyan Dictator Muammar Gaddafi, may have decided to surrender to international authorities rather than fight to the death in Libya.
Gaddafi seeking arrangements to hand himself in to the Hague-based International Criminal Court where he is wanted on war crime charges rather than suffer his father’s grisly faith, an official with the National Transitional Council told Reuters.
He has shown a willingness to surrender to the International Criminal Court, according to communications monitored by intelligence services and shared by Libya’s current rulers.
"Saif is concerned about his safety," the source told Reuters. "He believes handing himself over is the best option for him."
"He wants to be sent an aircraft," the National Transitional Council source said by telephone from Libya. "He wants assurances."
Before the upheaval in Libya earlier this year which resulted in a months-long civil war, Saif al-Islam had been known as international philanthropist and liberal reformer. When protesters rose up to protests his father’s regime began earlier this year, Saif al Islam took his father’s side.
Even after the elder Gaddafi was killed last week, Saif al-Islam remained opposed to declaring defeat, saying he would fight on.
“We continue our resistance. I am in Libya, I am alive, free and intend to go to the very end and exact revenge,” he said on Syrian television last week.
After three of Gaddafi’s son and Gaddafi himself died on home soil, Saif al-Islam reportedly still had the support of his father’s loyal tribes, who promised to fight against the government for the killing of the colonel.
Just last week Saif told Al-Arabiya news channel:
“I say go to hell, you and NATO behind you. This is our country, we live in it, we die in it and we are continuing the struggle.”