Moammar Gaddafi's Son Hiding in Sahara Desert?
The whereabouts of Moammar Gaddafi’s son, Seif al-Islam, remains uncertain as reports speculate that the young Gaddafi may be hiding in the vast Sahara desert.
Gaddafi, 39, is a fugitive on the run wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity.
He was educated at the London School of Economics in the U.K. and was at one point set to follow in his father’s footsteps as the leader of Libya.
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Weeks after the capture and killing of Moammar and Motassim Gaddafi, Seif Gaddafi has yet to be found, although last week reports were circulating that he was in negotiations to surrender to the ICC.
However, with two weeks having passed and the young Gaddafi nowhere to be found, commentators are speculating that he might be plotting a counterrevolution in his native Libya, or may still be working on his potential surrender to the international justice court.
Some suspect that Seif has crossed the Saharan desert into Mali, however, Ibrahim Ag Mohamed, a Mali legislator, has indicated that Gaddafi is neither in Mali or in neighboring Niger.
If Gaddafi is in the desert, he will be extremely difficult to locate, as the area is more than twice the size of Texas and largely unpoliced. It is said that al-Qaida leaders and smugglers roam freely through the desert, and capturing Gaddafi in such vast and unmarked territory seems unlikely.
The ICC chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo has come out to say that the court has information that “mercenaries may be endeavoring to facilitate Seif al-Islam’s escape from Libya."
Ocampo said, “We are calling upon states to do all they can to disrupt any such operation.”
In August, members of the Gaddafi clan escaped to Algeria, however, Seif vowed to stay in Libya and continue to fight with loyalists to his father’s regime against the “rebels, rats, and gangs” that eventually ousted his father and proclaimed a free Libya on Oct. 23.
