Seif Islam Kadafi

He was the reformist face of the Moammar Kadafi regime, a cosmopolitan intellectual who fraternized with London high society, rehabilitated Libyan dissidents and pledged to bring democracy to his father's long-repressed domain. But he was also an ambitious heir apparent and fierce defender of his father's rule, vowing that "rivers of blood" would flow when "Arab Spring"-inspired protesters took to Libya's streets early this year. Now Seif Islam Kadafi finds himself in the hands of those protesters-turned-rulers, and they will probably show no mercy for this contradictory figure who both embraced and rejected his father's dictatorial ways.

The prized scion of Moammar Kadafi is a prisoner of tribesmen in these mountains of scrub and ocher rock. The rebels who captured him after the 2011 civil war that toppled his father have refused to turn him over to the central government in Tripoli or the International Criminal Court in The Hague. The militiamen patrolling hillsides of winding roads and scattered bunkers want Seif Islam Kadafi tried in a rural courtroom and hanged. "Seif is a murderer and a liar. We have our own high court so we'll try him in Zintan," said Alramah Mohammed Elmerhani, a former rebel commander who was wounded in a tank battle.

A group of mercenaries has offered to help Moammar Kadafi's fugitive son and onetime heir apparent evade arrest and trial, an international prosecutor said Friday. The International Criminal Court warned that authorities might intercept any aircraft linked to the suspected plot to shield Seif Islam Kadafi from facing war crimes charges pending against him. ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo also said his office had had "informal contact" with the younger Kadafi, once regarded as the reformist face of his father's regime in Libya.

Libya must hand over its former intelligence chief under ousted strongman Moammar Kadafi, the International Criminal Court has ordered. The push to surrender Abdullah Senussi  is the latest turn in the tug-of-war over where Kadafi insiders will stand trial for crimes against humanity. Libya wants its own courts to try Senussi and Seif Islam Kadafi, son of the slain leader, arguing that bringing the two to justice would be a historic step for the country. The Hague tribunal is supposed to be a court of last resort, only handling cases that countries are unwilling or unable to handle themselves.

Rebels swept into the heart of the Libyan capital, meeting only sporadic resistance from forces loyal toMoammar Kadafi who were trying to protect a rapidly shrinking stronghold in the face of the insurgent onslaught, NATO airstrikes and uprisings in neighborhoods acrossTripoli. After six months of fighting, it was clear that Kadafi's loyalists were being pressed hard on multiple and shifting fronts. Rebels advanced from the south, east and west while Muslim clerics urged armed residents in the city and its outskirts to confront theLibyan army.

The International Criminal Court prosecutor at the Hague on Monday requested arrest warrants for Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi, his son Seif Islam Kadafi and his military intelligence chief, accusing them of crimes against humanity. Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo announced at the ICC that Kadafi, his son and Abdullah Sanoussi had commanded, planned and carried out attacks on civilians since the Feb. 15 start of demonstrations against Kadafi's regime in Libya. Kadafi's forces used violence against protesters, and the demonstrations quickly turned into an uprising.

He was for years Libya's greatest hope for a peaceful, orderly transition away from his erratic father's autocratic rule. As such, the seemingly open-minded son of Col. Moammar Kadafi was feted by world leaders and greeted with approval by international human rights groups and even some opposition activists as a beacon of reform in a politically ossified North Africa. Now Seif Islam Kadafi, 38, is hunkered down in a besieged capital, shorn of his reformist mantle and taking a front-and-center role in organizing his family's defiant attempt to survive a revolt that has left rebels in control of large swaths of the desert nation.

Libya's interim prime minister on Tuesday unveiled a new Cabinet apparently assembled with an eye to subduing regional factions, which have grown increasingly adversarial in the scramble for power since the overthrow of longtime strongman Moammar Kadafi. The new political leadership, which will run Libya until elections are held next year, faces the daunting task of creating a workable government and uniting a country ravaged by war and 42 years of dictatorial rule. "All of Libya is represented," Prime Minister Abdel-Rahim Keeb told a news conference in the capital, Tripoli.

The son of the late strongman Moammar Kadafi appeared in a Libyan court  Thursday for the first time, facing charges tied to the controversial detention of his attorney last year. Seif Islam Kadafi has been accused of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court, but Libya has argued that it should be able to try him in its own courts. The debate has revolved around whether Libya can offer Kadafi a fair trial in such a politically charged case. The hearing Thursday, however, involved allegations surrounding an International Criminal Court attorney who came to see Kadafi last year.

Rebels stormed Moammar Kadafi's central compound Tuesday, detaining his supporters and searching for the aging leader as gunfire sounded and columns of black smoke billowed from the building. Hundreds of rebels entered the green gates of Kadafi's expansive Bab Azizia complex and poured inside, some driving golf carts and firing their guns in celebration, said an Associated Press reporter who looked on after hours of fierce gun battles and NATO airstrikes against the building. Kadafi's whereabouts were not immediately known.

The son of the late strongman Moammar Kadafi appeared in a Libyan court  Thursday for the first time, facing charges tied to the controversial detention of his attorney last year. Seif Islam Kadafi has been accused of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court, but Libya has argued that it should be able to try him in its own courts. The debate has revolved around whether Libya can offer Kadafi a fair trial in such a politically charged case. The hearing Thursday, however, involved allegations surrounding an International Criminal Court attorney who came to see Kadafi last year.

  The revolution is long over in Libya, but gunfire still crackles in the night, echoing down empty streets and alleys. Swaggering men in Che Guevara-style berets patrol the outskirts of once-besieged Misurata with antiaircraft guns affixed to the back of their pickup trucks, stalking those they believe are responsible for their city's misery. A militia based in mountainous Zintan refuses to hand over Moammar Kadafi's son and once heir-apparent, Seif Islam Kadafi, and encirclesTripoli's airport, holding both as bargaining chips to extract concessions and avoid being marginalized in the country's emerging political order.

Libya's interim prime minister on Tuesday unveiled a new Cabinet apparently assembled with an eye to subduing regional factions, which have grown increasingly adversarial in the scramble for power since the overthrow of longtime strongman Moammar Kadafi. The new political leadership, which will run Libya until elections are held next year, faces the daunting task of creating a workable government and uniting a country ravaged by war and 42 years of dictatorial rule. "All of Libya is represented," Prime Minister Abdel-Rahim Keeb told a news conference in the capital, Tripoli.

He was the reformist face of the Moammar Kadafi regime, a cosmopolitan intellectual who fraternized with London high society, rehabilitated Libyan dissidents and pledged to bring democracy to his father's long-repressed domain. But he was also an ambitious heir apparent and fierce defender of his father's rule, vowing that "rivers of blood" would flow when "Arab Spring"-inspired protesters took to Libya's streets early this year. Now Seif Islam Kadafi finds himself in the hands of those protesters-turned-rulers, and they will probably show no mercy for this contradictory figure who both embraced and rejected his father's dictatorial ways.

A group of mercenaries has offered to help Moammar Kadafi's fugitive son and onetime heir apparent evade arrest and trial, an international prosecutor said Friday. The International Criminal Court warned that authorities might intercept any aircraft linked to the suspected plot to shield Seif Islam Kadafi from facing war crimes charges pending against him. ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo also said his office had had "informal contact" with the younger Kadafi, once regarded as the reformist face of his father's regime in Libya.

The macabre and divisive drama over the decomposing remains of Moammar Kadafi appears to have concluded with his anticlimactic and anonymous burial deep in the Libyan hinterlands. Kadafi's body was interred early Tuesday in a secret grave, Libyan officials confirmed. Also buried were the remains of his son Mutassim and a former chief military aide, Abu Bakr Yunis. The Associated Press reported that a cleric and several relatives of the dead were present for a brief prayer service in the coastal city of Misurata before the bodies were whisked away in wooden coffins for predawn burial at an undisclosed site.

The macabre and divisive drama over the decomposing remains of Moammar Kadafi appears to have concluded with his anticlimactic and anonymous burial deep in the Libyan hinterlands. Kadafi's body was interred early Tuesday in a secret grave, Libyan officials confirmed. Also buried were the remains of his son Mutassim and a former chief military aide, Abu Bakr Yunis. The Associated Press reported that a cleric and several relatives of the dead were present for a brief prayer service in the coastal city of Misurata before the bodies were whisked away in wooden coffins for predawn burial at an undisclosed site.

After taking months of heat from both political parties for its decision to assist in a NATO-led mission in Libya, the Obama administration was not only pleased with the results but also eager to tout the strategy, crediting it with weakening Moammar Kadafi's forces over time while giving rebel forces time to regroup. And the administration offered a response to criticism that Obama's plan lacked an endgame in Libya: “Six months is not a long time to bring down a 42-year dictatorship,” said Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security advisor for strategic communications, in a telephone interview.    “Over time, all the pressure on Kadafi built up because we were destroying his forces on the ground while denying him ability to replenish them, so he was getting steadily weaker and at the same time the opposition was getting better organized,” Rhodes said.

Rebels stormed Moammar Kadafi's central compound Tuesday, detaining his supporters and searching for the aging leader as gunfire sounded and columns of black smoke billowed from the building. Hundreds of rebels entered the green gates of Kadafi's expansive Bab Azizia complex and poured inside, some driving golf carts and firing their guns in celebration, said an Associated Press reporter who looked on after hours of fierce gun battles and NATO airstrikes against the building. Kadafi's whereabouts were not immediately known.

After taking months of heat from both political parties for its decision to assist in a NATO-led mission in Libya, the Obama administration was not only pleased with the results but also eager to tout the strategy, crediting it with weakening Moammar Kadafi's forces over time while giving rebel forces time to regroup. And the administration offered a response to criticism that Obama's plan lacked an endgame in Libya: “Six months is not a long time to bring down a 42-year dictatorship,” said Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security advisor for strategic communications, in a telephone interview.    “Over time, all the pressure on Kadafi built up because we were destroying his forces on the ground while denying him ability to replenish them, so he was getting steadily weaker and at the same time the opposition was getting better organized,” Rhodes said.