Gadhafi’s captors add conditions to handing him over to government
TRIPOLI, Libya — Militia fighters holding Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, the last fugitive son and onetime heir apparent of Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, added conditions Sunday for handing over their prisoner to the fledgling government, a new challenge to the authority of Prime Minister Abdel Rahim el-Keeb.
The capture early Saturday in the southwestern desert eliminated perhaps the best hope that Gadhafi loyalists had of rallying a new revolution. But he has now become a bargaining chip for the militia in Zintan, who are angling for position as the government is formed.
The interim government has said it will try Gadhafi and not hand him over to the International Criminal Court where he’s charged with crimes against humanity. The New York Times
White House looks into whether Iran supplied Libya with artillery shells.
The Obama administration is investigating whether Iran supplied the Libyan government of Moammar Gadhafi with hundreds of special artillery shells for chemical weapons that Libya kept secret for decades, U.S. officials said.
The shells, which Libya filled with highly toxic mustard agent, were uncovered in recent weeks by revolutionary fighters at two sites in central Libya. Both are under heavy guard and round-the-clock surveillance by drones, U.S. and Libyan officials said.
The discovery of the shells has prompted a probe, led by U.S. intelligence, into how the Libyans obtained them; several sources said early suspicion had fallen on Iran. “We are pretty sure we know” the shells were custom-designed and produced in Iran for Libya, said a senior U.S. official, one of several who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the accusation.
Mohammed Javad Larijani, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader and the brother of Iran’s former negotiator on nuclear issues, denied the allegation. “I believe such comments are being fabricated by the U.S. to complete their project of Iranophobia in the region and all through the world. Surely this is another baseless story for demonizing (the) Islamic Republic of Iran,” he said in an e-mail.
The Washington Post, Center for Public Integrity
