Court seeks Gadhafi arrest warrant

BANI WALID — With no definite word as to Muammar Gadhafi’s whereabouts, the International Criminal Court asked Interpol Thursday to issue Red Notice arrest warrants for the fallen Libyan leader, wanted for alleged crimes against humanity.
“Arresting Gadhafi is matter of time,” said Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands.
The court also asked for Red Notices on Gadhafi’s son, Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, and his brother-in-law, Abdullah Al-Senussi, who served as the regime’s intelligence chief. They are also wanted for alleged killings and persecution in the Libyan uprising that erupted in February.
The Red Notice allows Interpol, the international police agency, to widely circulate arrest warrants with an intention to extradite suspects to the criminal court.
The court’s actions came amid another round of claims made by Libya’s new leadership about the fugitive leader and his family.
A spokesman for the new Tripoli Military Council said anti-Gadhafi fighters had cornered the fallen Libyan leader and that he had no means of escape. But Anees Al-Sharif did not divulge a location.
Abdallah Kenshil, a National Transitional Council member who is negotiating with tribal leaders for a loyalist surrender, said two of Gadhafi’s sons had been spotted in Bani Walid, one of the last loyalist strongholds about 150 kilometres (93 miles) southeast of Tripoli.
“We know that Saif al-Islam Gadhafi and Mutassim Gadhafi are inside Bani Walid,” Kenshil said. “Eyewitnesses we know by name inside Bani Walid told us they saw them.”
Saif al-Islam Gadhafi was considered the most influential of Gadhafi’s sons. Mutassim Gadhafi served as his father’s national security adviser.
“Moammar Ghadafi himself incited violence against our peaceful message in a message broadcast on Al-Rai-TV,” Kenshil said, referring to an audio message purportedly from Gadhafi Wednesday.
In recent days, the Syrian television station has aired several messages allegedly from Gadhafi.
“He asked his supporters to destroy the mosque where the negotiations with Bani Walid elders took place,” Kenshil said.
The man claiming to be Gadhafi also refuted speculation that he had fled to Niger, saying he was still in Libya and would not leave.
“They claimed I left to Niger so they can weaken you and destroy your morale,” he said, adding such reports were “lies.”
CNN could not independently confirm any of the interim council’s statements. Anti-Gadhafi fighters have made claims before about the arrests or killings of Gadhafi’s sons which later were proved false.
Gadhafi has not been seen in public in months. (CNN)