ICC’s chief prosecutor expects Qaddafi to be arrested before the end of the year

The ICC’s chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, told Alarabiya TV on Monday he expects that the
embattled Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi’s arrest will take place before the year’s end. Mr. Moreno-Ocampo, who called yesterday a “special day”, said that the ICC had found evidence against Muammar Qaddafi, his son Saif Al Islam, and the country’s intelligence head, Abdullah Al Sinosi, of being guilty of committing crimes against humanity to quell the country’s dissidents. Mr. Ocampo said that Colonel Qaddafi’s son had recruited mercenaries who were used to crush dissidents, and that Mr. Sinosi had aided the strongman and his son in brutally fighting the rebels.

He said the court found evidence of torture carried out at the government’s orders, and evidence that Viagra was distributed in a rape campaign against dissidents carried out on governmental orders.

Mr. Ocampo also said that the ICC might indict one or two officials for torture charges, adding that the court will also investigate Libyan rebels in relation to crimes, especially the killing of black Africans, some of whom rebels allegedly mistook for mercenaries.

The next phase in Libya’s transformation requires reconciliation between warring parties, he added.

Speaking about Syria, Mr. Ocampo said that the ICC cannot indict Syrian officials until the UN Security Council votes on and passes a resolution against the country.

In the rebel stronghold Benghazi, Libyans celebrated the International Criminal Court’s arrest orders against Mr. Qaddafi, his son, and Mr. Sinosi.

(Dina Al-Shibeeb, a senior editor at Al Arabiya English, can be reached at: dina.ibrahim@mbc.net)