Gaddafi's son hires mercenaries to flee

London - Saif al-Islam, the eldest son of former Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, has reportedly hired a group of South African mercenaries to help him flee to a friendly nation.

39-year-old Saif's whereabouts are the source of much speculation after he escaped from the town of Bani Walid on October 19, the day before Colonel Gaddafi was captured by National Transitional Council's fighters and brutally killed in his hometown of Sirte.

 
Now, according to information received by International Criminal Court, Saif has currently taken refuge with Tuareg nomads, who his family had helped financially in the past, in borderlands between Libya and Niger, the 'Daily Mail' said.

The Court, based in The Hague in the Netherlands, also said Saif had been in contact with them through intermediaries to discuss the possibility of surrendering for trial.

"There are some people connected with him that are in touch with people connected with us... it's through intermediaries. We have some information that there is a mercenary group trying to help him to move to a different country, so we are trying to prevent this activity.

 
"We are also working with some states to see if we can disrupt this attempt. Some of them are South Africans allegedly," ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo was quoted by the British newspaper as saying.

Moreno-Ocampo said that the ICC was not making any deal with Saif but was explaining through the contacts that he had to face trial because he had been indicted for war crimes. "He says he is innocent," said the prosecutor.

The ICC has also warned Saif that it could order a mid- air interception if he tried to flee by plane from his Sahara desert hideout for a safe haven.