NOUAKCHOTT, (Reuters) – Mauritania extradited Muammar Gaddafi’s former spy chief Abdullah al-Senussi to Libya today, a Mauritanian government source and the state news agency said, after months of wrangling over who would put him on trial.
Senussi, among the most feared members of Gaddafi’s regime before rebels toppled it last year, was captured in the West African state in March, triggering a tug of war among Libya, France and the International Criminal Court for his extradition.
A spokesman for the ICC, which has wanted to try him on charges of crimes against humanity including murder and persecution, said it had received no information about Senussi’s handover to Libyan authorities in Tripoli.
“He was extradited to Libya on the basis of guarantees given by Libyan authorities,” a Mauritanian government source told Reuters, without giving details on the guarantees.
A high-level Libyan delegation was in Mauritania on Tuesday where it held meetings with Mauritanian authorities, he said. It was not clear if there was a court decision sanctioning the extradition.
In Tripoli, Libyan foreign ministry spokesman Saad al-Shelmani said he could not confirm that Senussi’s extradition had taken place but welcomed the news.
“We have been asking for this move for a very long time and it will be very welcome if it is true,” he said.
Senussi was arrested six months ago after arriving with a falsified Malian passport on a flight into the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott from Morocco. Mauritania’s original plan was to put him on trial for illegal entry – a move that threatened to delay efforts to have him face international justice.
In its warrant for Senussi’s arrest, the Hague-based ICC said he had used his position of command to have attacks carried out against opponents of Gaddafi, who was hunted down and killed by rebels after his ouster in August last year.
