Muammar Gaddafi’s son on trial in Libya

Muammar Gaddafi’s son and former heir apparent Saif al-Islam will be put on trial inside Libya and there will be a verdict before mid-June, a Libyan official has said.

The decision comes despite appeals by rights groups to Libyan authorities to hand him over to the International Criminal Court in The Hague for trial, amid fears that he may not get a fair trial in Libya.

Saif al-Islam had been held until now by his captors, ex-rebels from the town of Zintan, who for months had refused to give him up to Tripoli’s officials.

A spokesman of the ruling National Transitional Council, Mohammed al-Hareizi, said that Saif al-Islam will be transferred to Tripoli within 10 days and that his trial will conclude before parliamentary elections scheduled two months from now.