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THE GADDAFI CLAN: WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Published
20 October 2012

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Image source, Reuters

A year after the capture and violent death of former Libyan leader Muammar
Gaddafi on 20 October 2011, what has happened to his remaining family and
members of his inner circle?

Three of Gaddafi's sons were killed in the uprising, including former National
Security Adviser Mutassim Gaddafi, who died at the hands of the rebels on the
same day as his father.

Surviving Gaddafi family members have experienced mixed fortunes since October
2011, with his widow finding refuge in Algeria, while his son and former
heir-apparent Saif al-Islam is currently awaiting trial in a Libyan prison.


SAFIYA GADDAFI (WIFE)

Image source, AFP

Safiya Farkash, the mother of seven of Gaddafi's eight biological children, has
spent the last year in Algeria after being given refuge there for "humanitarian
reasons".

Along with her daughter Ayesha and Gaddafi's son from his first wife Fathia, she
entered Algeria on 29 August as rebels took control of Tripoli.

She is thought to be housed in a secure villa in the town of Staoueli near
Algiers, under strict orders from the Algerian government not to make public
political statements or interfere in Libyan affairs.


Image source, AFP

If events had turned out differently, Muhammad may well have spent the summer in
London at the 2012 Olympic Games, in his capacity as the head of the Libyan
Olympic Committee.

Instead, Gaddafi's eldest son has spent more than a year in Algeria after
fleeing when the rebels took control of Tripoli.

Born to Gaddafi's first wife Fathia, he was also the chairman of the company
which controlled Libya's mobile phone and satellite communications networks.

He was not indicted by the ICC and is not thought to have played a large part in
attempting to quell last year's uprising.

Image source, Reuters

Former heir-apparent Saif al-Islam was captured a month after his father's
death, and has since been in custody in the mountain town of Zintan.

The London School of Economics graduate has been at the centre of a protracted
struggle between the International Criminal Court, where he is wanted for
charges of crimes against humanity, and the Libyan courts, who insist he must
face trial in Libya.



The Libyan judiciary seems to have won the battle, but a date for his trial has
not yet been set. It was reported that a modern detention facility, complete
with a basketball court and a personal chef, has been prepared for him in the
capital Tripoli.

Image source, Reuters

Saadi Gaddafi, the former head of the Libyan Football Federation, has been
granted asylum in Niger, where he resides in a state guesthouse in Niamey after
fleeing across the Sahara Desert.

Saadi is notorious for a brief career in top-flight Italian football which was
cut short by a failed drugs test, as well as his playboy lifestyle.

Niger has refused Libyan requests to extradite him, with the justice minister
saying he is "certain to face the death penalty".

In September, Interpol issued a "red notice", which would oblige member
countries to arrest him. Last December, Mexican officials said they had
discovered a smuggling ring which was trying to bring Saadi to Mexico under a
false name.

Image source, AFP

Hannibal is the fifth son of Gaddafi and Safiya Farkash. He is believed to have
been in the convoy which crossed into Algeria last August. He had been leading
the defence of Gharyan, south of Tripoli, before the rebels took control of the
capital.



A trained seaman, Hannibal was the first consultant to the Management Committee
of the General National Maritime Transport Company.

He repeatedly made the headlines for his flamboyant, erratic and playboy
behaviour. He was once arrested for drink-driving in his Porsche on the
Champs-Elysees in Paris.

He also caused a diplomatic row with Switzerland after attacking two Swiss hotel
staff, leading his father to jail two Swiss businessmen and impose economic
sanctions against Switzerland.

Image source, AFP

Aisha Gaddafi, the colonel's only daughter by birth, was granted refuge in
Algeria with her mother and brother.

Three days after her arrival it was announced that she had given birth to a baby
girl, whom she named Safiya after her mother.

Despite being under tight surveillance by the Algerian government, which is
anxious to keep her quiet, she used a Syrian TV channel to call for Libyans to
"revolt" against the new government.

She also hired an Israeli lawyer, Nick Kaufman, to petition the ICC to
investigate her father's death.

Libyan media outlets have reported that Aisha supported Algeria in a recent
encounter against the Libyan football team, saying that the new Libyan side
"does not represent her".

Image source, Al-Arabiya website

Col Gaddafi had long claimed that his adopted daughter Hanaa was killed in a US
air strike in 1986, when she was just 18 months old. However, since the
revolution there has been growing evidence that Hanaa is still alive, although
her current status is unknown.

Video footage has emerged of Hanaa playing with her father and brothers several
years after the bombing.

Documents found in Gaddafi's Bab al-Aziziyah compound show medical documents and
even a British Council certificate under the name of Hanaa Muammar Gaddafi.

Libyan media sources report that Hanaa qualified as a doctor and worked at the
Tripoli Medical Centre for several years.

Image source, Getty Images

On 20 October, exactly a year after Gaddafi's death, the office of the Libyan
Prime Minister said Ibrahim had been captured in the town of Tarhouna, 40 miles
south of Tripoli. Other officials expressed scepticism about the report.

There have been several previous rumours about his arrest, but all turned out to
be false.

Moussa Ibrahim, who was the face of the regime in the international media, was
last seen in Tripoli just before it fell to opposition forces.

He gave almost daily briefings to journalists, assuring them that the regime
would prevail even as the rebel offensive entered the capital.

From the same tribe as Gaddafi, Mr Ibrahim studied at several British
universities and claimed to have lived in London for 15 years.

Image source, Reuters

Gaddafi's intelligence chief Abdallah al-Sanussi is being held in Tripoli after
being deported from Mauritania in September 2012. He fled Libya after last
year's uprising and was arrested on his arrival in Nouakchott from Morocco in
March 2012, sparking repeated requests to the West African nation from the
Libyan government for his return.

In June 2011, the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest
for crimes against humanity alleged to have been carried out in Benghazi, the
main base of the Libyan opposition during the revolt.

He has been accused of various human rights abuses, including his alleged role
in the 1996 massacre of more than 1,200 inmates at Abu-Salim prison in Tripoli.

France has already sentenced Sanussi to life imprisonment for his involvement in
the bombing of a French airliner over Niger in 1989 in which 170 people were
killed.

Investigators in the US and UK believe he may have further knowledge about the
Pan Am airliner bombing in over Lockerbie in Scotland in 1988 in which 270
people died.

Image source, AP

Previously one of the Gaddafi regime's most powerful men, Musa Kusa defected
about a month into the uprising and flew to the UK via Tunisia. He now lives in
Qatar, one of the chief financiers and backers of the Libyan revolution.

Kusa was the head of the Libyan intelligence services from 1994 to 2009, when he
became foreign minister until his defection.

A BBC Panorama investigation alleged that he personally tortured prisoners and
was involved in the 1996 Abu Salim prison massacre in which more than 1,200
people died.

He denies the allegations and maintains that he has no knowledge of who was
responsible for the Lockerbie bombing.

BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media
around the world. For more reports from BBC Monitoring, click here





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