Saif al-Islam Gaddafi planning political comeback in Libya
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A son of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi who vanished six years ago and was thought to have died has reappeared and announced his intention to re-enter politics.
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, who is still wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity, said he intended to unify Libya at the head of his father’s “Green movement”.
In his first public remarks since he was sentenced to death by a Libyan court in 2015, the 49-year-old claimed he would command widespread support from the Libyan public fed up with the factions who have fought for control of the country since his father was overthrown.
“It’s not in their interest to have a strong government,” he told the New York Times. “That’s why they are afraid of the elections.
“They are against the idea of a president. They are against the idea of a state, a government that has legitimacy derived from the people.”
He did not clarify his own political ambitions and avoided the question of whether he planned to run for president in elections scheduled for December.
“I’ve been away from the Libyan people for 10 years,” he said. “You need to come back slowly, slowly. Like a striptease,” he told the paper. “You need to play with their minds a little.”
He also defended his father’s record in power and refused to apologise for atrocities committed by his regime, saying most Libyans now thought the government should have taken an even harder line.
“What happened in Libya was not a revolution,” he said. “You can call it a civil war, or days of evil. It’s not a revolution.”
Factions have agreed to hold presidential and parliamentary elections in December, but diplomats say privately the chances of those polls going ahead are slim.
Photo: (FILE) A file photo dated 10 March 2011 shows Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi smiling during a speech in Tripoli, Libya. EPA/STR
