DUBAI, March 6 (RAPSI) – Niger has extradited Saadi, the son of the late Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi, according to a statement on the Libyan government’s website.
Saadi, 38, one of Gaddafi’s seven sons, fled to Niger in mid-September 2011, a month before Libyan rebels killed his father. He headed Libya’s Football Federation and was also the former head of the country’s special forces.
The government of Niger said they had granted Saadi asylum “for humanitarian considerations.” In February last year, he was placed under house arrest after talking to the press about the situation in Libya after Gaddafi’s overthrow. The Libyan authorities demanded that Niger extradite Saadi who is accused of embezzling state property.
The new Libyan authorities have indicted Saadi’s elder brother and Gaddafi’s potential successor, Saif al-Islam. He was detained by a militia in western Libya, where he is being tried on charges of crimes against humanity.
The youngest of Gaddafi’s sons, Saif al-Arab, 29, and Gaddafi’s three grandchildren were killed in a NATO air raid in May 2011. Khamis, who commanded a security unit, died fighting the rebels. The dictator’s wife Safiya, daughter Ayesha and sons Mohammed and Hannibal fled to Algeria and were granted asylum in Oman in 2012.