JURIST - Paper Chase: Mauritania extradites Libya ex-intelligence chief

[JURIST] Mauritanian authorities extradited former Libyan chief of intelligence Abdullah al-Senussi to Libya on Wednesday according to Mauritania state news agencies. Al-Senussi was arrested [JURIST report] in Mauritania in March, and Libya is now seeking to try al-Senussi [BBC report] for crimes he purportedly committed while serving under former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi [BBC obituary; JURIST news archive]. Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC) [official website, in Arabic], the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] and France have all requested custody of al-Senussi. The ICC issued an arrest warrant [JURIST report] for al-Senussi in June 2011 on charges of murder and persecution for planning attacks on civilians during the Libya conflict [JURIST backgrounder], but he is also suspected of organizing mass rapes [JURIST report]. France requested custody because al-Senussi was sentenced to life in prison in France for his role in a 1989 plane bombing over Niger that killed 170 people, including 54 French citizens. Al-Senussi also faces charges of illegally entering Mauritania [JURIST report]. Both members of Gadaffi's "inner circle" [JURIST report], al-Senussi and Gadaffi's son Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, have now been arrested.

In November former ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo detailed the charges [JURIST report] against al-Senussi and Saif al-Islam to the UN Security Council [official website]. Saif al-Islam was arrested in November, is currently in Libyan custody and faces trial this month [JURIST reports]. Earlier in November Ocampo said that he has evidence against Saif al-Islam for his role in planning attacks on Libyan civilians [JURIST report]. According to Ocampo, Saif al-Islam hired mercenaries to assist him in carrying out his plans to attack civilians that protested the rule of his father.