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Gaddafi’s son Saif captured
From heir apparent to frightened fugitive
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Memogate
Haqqani leaves for Pak to explain his position
UK plans ‘curry college’ to teach Indian cooking
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Gaddafi’s son Saif captured
Tripoli, November 19 The fighters claimed his capture as gunfire and car horns expressed jubilation across Libya at the seizure of the British-educated 39-year-old who a year ago seemed set for a dynastic succession to rule the oil-producing African desert state. Saif al-Islam and three armed companions were taken without a fight overnight, officials said, and he was not injured, unlike his father, who was killed a month ago after being captured in his hometown. "We have arrested Saif al-Islam Gaddafi in (the) Obari area," Justice Minister Mohammed al-Alagy told Reuters, adding that the younger Gaddafi, wanted for crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court at The Hague, was not injured. A photograph of Saif al-Islam showed him lying on what appeared to be a reclining sofa with his fingers wrapped in bandages and his legs covered with a thick, brown blanket. The wounds were apparently sustained earlier. The Zintan fighters, who make up one of the powerful militia factions holding ultimate power in a country still without a government, said they planned to keep him in Zintan, until they could hand him over to the authorities. Prime minister-designate Abdurrahim El-Keib is scheduled to form a government by Tuesday, and the fate of Saif al-Islam, whom Libyans want to try at home before, possibly, handing him over to the ICC, will be an early test of its authority. Muammar Gaddafi's beating, abuse and ultimate death in the custody of former rebel fighters was an embarrassment to the previous transitional government. Officials in Tripoli said they were determined to handle his son's case with more order. The ICC's Office said it had received confirmation of his arrest from Libya's Ministry of Justice.
— Reuters ICC prosecutor to visit Libya The Hague: The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court says he will travel to Libya next week for talks with the country's transitional government on where Saif al-Islam will be tried. Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo says that while national governments have the right to try their own citizens for war crimes, he is concerned that Saif will have a fair trial and that he be tried for the same charges he faces at the ICC. "The good news is that Saif al-Islam is arrested, he is alive, and now he will face justice," Ocampo said. — AP
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From heir apparent to frightened fugitive
In his final days on the run, witnesses said Saif al-Islam, 39, was nervous, confused and frightened, at first calling his father by satellite phone, swearing aides to secrecy about his whereabouts, and after his father was killed seeking to avoid a similarly gruesome fate. The Arab uprisings, which swept the region, left Saif as the last major holdout of a regime brought to its knees and eliminated by a NATO-backed revolt. Born in 1972, Seif al-Islam, whose name means sword of Islam, is the second of Gaddafi's eight children, the eldest son of his second wife Safiya. Saif, who received a doctorate from the London School of Economics, held no official post but carved out influence as a loyal emissary of Gaddafi's regime and architect of reform, anxious to normalise ties with the West. He shot to prominence in 2000 when the Gaddafi Foundation that he headed negotiated the release of Western hostages held by Muslim rebels in the Philippines. In 2007, he served as a mediator over the release of Bulgarian nurses who were jailed over a hospital AIDS outbreak. He also negotiated compensation agreements for the families of those killed in the 1988 Lockerbie plane bombing and of UTA Flight 772 in 1989, both of which were blamed on Libya. He long served as the face of Gaddafi's regime in the West, appearing in suit and tie, and speaking fluent English. But reformist image vanished when an uprising against his father was launched from the eastern city of Benghazi in February, often going on television or giving press conferences to warn that opposition forces would be crushed. As National Transitional Council forces closed in on Tripoli late August, he went underground, only to reappear in the capital on August 23, just two days after reports the rebels had captured him. But he had not been heard from since, until a senior official of the ruling National Transitional Council announced that Saif had been arrested in the south of Libya.
— Agencies
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Memogate
Islamabad, November 19 "This was not a letter, neither from presidency nor from any government organisation," Malik told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Islamabad. "This is communication through SMS by two individuals. One is an American national and second is our Ambassador," he said. The information available indicated there was "an exchange of SMS and Blackberry messages", he added. "Now we have to see that who initiated these (messages). And if his (Haqqani’s) point of view was not satisfactory, then it is clear (the matter) is open for investigation," Malik said. Both Malik and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said Haqqani should be given an opportunity to explain his position. Talking to reporters in Peshawar, Gilani said the matter of the secret memo would be taken to its "logical end" while protecting national interests though it would be "unjust and against the norms of justice to jump to conclusions without listening to the point of view" of Haqqani. Haqqani has been summoned to Islamabad to explain the issue to the country's leadership, he said. Haqqani has offered to resign over the situation but has denied reports of his alleged involvement in drafting the secret memo, which purportedly committed the government to creating a new national security set-up in exchange for US help in preventing a military takeover.
— PTI
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Haqqani leaves for Pak to explain his position
Washington, November 19 Before leaving for Islamabad, Haqqani met Special US Representative for Af-Pak region Marc Grossman at the State Department and the issue of the memo is believed to have been discussed. “On way to motherland Pakistan,” Haqqani tweeted last night after his meeting with Grossman.
— PTI
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UK plans ‘curry college’ to teach Indian cooking
The fact is that many restaurants offering Indian food are closing because of the virtual Home Office ban on hiring cooks from the Indian sub-continent, while there are millions of unemployed Britons, who could be absorbed in restaurants with the right training. Eric Pickles, the communities secretary, wants to set up the "curry college" to teach the secrets of Indian cooking. The college is also intended to be a showpiece of the government's strategy towards integration among communities in Britain. The proposal, as reported by 'The Guardian' daily, has evoked mixed reactions - some have welcomed the idea, while many think it is something of a joke. It is yet to be approved by Prime Minister David Cameron. But serious it is, and is in line with the Conservative Party's policy to cut immigration numbers in a way that Britain does "not need to attract people to do jobs that could be carried out by British citizens, given the right training and support". In Pickles’ proposal, the "curry college" scheme reportedly falls under the heading of "increasing social mobility". — PTI
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Muammar Gaddafi's son and once heir apparent Saif al-Islam has been captured in the southern Libyan desert by fighters who vowed to hold him in their mountain town of Zintan until there was an administration to hand him over to.
Tripoli, November 19
London, November 19