http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/18/world/africa/ex-libya-intelligence-chief-captured-in-mauritania.html

March 17, 2012

Spy Chief and Torturer for Qaddafi Is Captured

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

TRIPOLI, Libya -- Abdullah el-Senussi, the former intelligence chief and brother-in-law of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, was arrested Saturday at an airport in Mauritania, the authorities there said, in the most significant capture of a former official of the Qaddafi government since the apprehension of the dictator's son Seif al-Islam by Libyan fighters in November.

The International Criminal Court has indicted Mr. Senussi, Seif al-Islam and Colonel Qaddafi on accusations of crimes against humanity committed during the government's attempts to crush the rebellion last year that ultimately ousted the Libyan leader. Colonel Qaddafi was killed by Libyan fighters shortly after his capture in October. During his years as intelligence chief, Mr. Senussi presided over the surveillance, detention, torture and assassination of probably thousands of Libyans. Aside from Colonel Qaddafi himself, Mr. Senussi was the most reviled figure in the former government.

After the fall of Tripoli, journalists were able to walk through his headquarters, including his own grand corner office, the fitness facility used by his men, the tiny cells scrawled with the desperate prayers of the inmates who had been housed there, and larger rooms used for torture and beatings.

Besides being wanted by the international court, Mr. Senussi was also sought for arrest by France, where he and five other Libyans were sentenced in absentia to life in prison for the 1989 bombing of a passenger airplane over Niger that killed all 170 people, many of them French.

Libyans also believe he was responsible for the brutal 1996 crackdown on a riot at Abu Salim prison in Tripoli that left 1,200 dead. A demonstration last year by the families of the dead became the spark that ignited the Libyan uprising.

It was unclear on Saturday what Mauritania planned to do with Mr. Senussi. France -- which announced that it helped in the arrest, according to news reports -- Libya and the International Criminal Court had all either asked to take custody of him or said they planned to.

Libya's interim government said in a statement that it was prepared to receive Mr. Senussi and guarantee him a free trial. But the Libyan justice system was always plagued with corruption and favoritism under Colonel Qaddafi, and the interim authorities have acknowledged that they are still working to rebuild it on a firmer foundation.

The fate of Seif al-Islam remains unclear. Libyan fighters from the Western town of Zintan continue to hold him captive, and have refused to turn him over to Libya's interim Justice Ministry. It is unclear whether Libyan authorities would hand him over for trial at the International Criminal Court if they took him into custody.

Since the fall of Tripoli last August, Libyan fighters have repeatedly claimed, without proof, that they had captured Mr. Senussi. But officials of Libya's interim government had never confirmed his capture. Instead, rumors of his whereabouts swirled around Tripoli, with one militia-leader-turned politician even boasting that he personally held Mr. Senussi in his custody. Former Qaddafi government figures, speaking on the condition of anonymity for their own safety, have said that Mr. Senussi was in fact alive and well, living in Africa.

Officials of Mauritania said Saturday that they had arrested Mr. Senussi debarking from a flight from Casablanca, Morocco, according to news reports. They said he was carrying a fake Malian passport. Many senior figures from the former Qaddafi government fled or attempted to flee over Libya's porous southern border into other African nations. Colonel Qaddafi had cultivated close ties to the tribal groups that live on both sides of those borders.

Three other members of the Qaddafi family who played less important roles in the government than Seif also escaped into neighboring countries. Colonel Qaddafi's son Mohammed and daughter Aisha escaped into Algeria and are believed to remain there. His son Saadi is in Niger, effectively under house arrest.

Suliman Ali Zway contributed reporting from Tripoli, and Marlise Simons from Paris.