Libya’s new rulers are building a custom-made prison to house Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam, who is being held by a militia faction in the western mountains.
The Zintan militia that captured him last November as he tried to sneak into Niger has refused to hand him over, but is expected to surrender their prisoner in the coming weeks.
In anticipation of this the National Transitional Council has built a prison within a prison at the Al Ahdath jail in Tripoli’s Tajoura district, one of the first areas of the capital to rebel. It is surrounded by 50ft (15m) high concrete walls and guarded by heavily armed NTC fighters.
His outside exercise yards will be covered with a metal mesh to prevent any attempt to rescue the former heir-apparent — who until last year was more accustomed to living in his family’s luxury palaces around the country — by helicopter.
However, his conditions will be far better than those enjoyed by most of his supporters: Saif al-Islam will have an indoor football and basketball court, according to a report in The Observer.
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In addition, he will have a private mosque and satellite television. The International Criminal Court wants to extradite Saif al-Islam to The Hague to face war crimes charges, but the National Transitional Council has argued that it is capable of trying him in the country where those crimes were committed.