Saif al-Islam Qadhafi (L) is pictured standing in a plane in Zintan on Saturday. – Photo by Reuters

ZINTAN: Libya’s interim Prime Minister Abdel Rahim al-Kib said Saturday that Seif al-Islam Qadhafi, the son of the slain leader of Libya, will be given a “fair trial.”” I reassure our people and the world that Seif, and those with him, will be given a fair trial in which international rights and norms will be guaranteed,” Kib told a news conference in Zintan after formally announcing the arrest of Moammer Qadhafi’s favourite son.

Seif al-Islam is wanted by the International Criminal Court.

Kib did not clearly say if Seif al-Islam would be tried in Libya or at the ICC.

“The judicial authorities will communicate with the International Criminal Court to examine where Seif al-Islam must be tried,” he said.

“Any cooperation with international institutions is welcome,” he added implying that they would like him to be tried in Libya.

World powers have urged Libya’s interim rulers to cooperate with the ICC.

The ICC issued warrants on June 27 against Seif al-Islam, as well as his father and Abdullah al-Senussi, the late dictator’s intelligence chief, on charges of crimes against humanity in crushing anti-regime protests.

A spokesman for The Hague-based court told AFP after news of Seif al-Islam’s capture that Libya has an obligation to surrender the prisoner but he did not exclude the possibility of a trial in Libya.

“The Libyan authorities have an obligation to cooperate with the court, including with respect to the arrest and surrender of Seif al-Islam to the court as indicated in the UN’s resolution,” Fadi El-Abdallah told AFP.

But he added: “If Libyan authorities believe that a trial at national level is a better solution, they can ask that the case not be admitted in The Hague, based on the court’s complementary principle.” “If they want a trial in Libya, they must submit a request for dismissal and procedures in Libya must be conducted on the same charges as those contained in the warrant of the ICC,” he said.

ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo will travel to Libya next week for talks with the transitional government on the arrest of the 39-year-old Seif, his spokeswoman said meanwhile.

Kib described the capture of Seif al-Islam a “historic” day.

“The arrest of Seif al-Qadhafi crowns the sacrifices made by our great people,” he said in reference to the uprising that ended the 42-year rule of Moamer Qadhafi.

“On this historic occasion I congratulate the men and women of Libya and the thwar (revolutionaries) of Libya,” said Kib, adding he hoped that Seif’s capture would mark a new start for Libya.

He said Seif al-Islam was “under the control of the Zintan thwar” responsible for his arrest.

News of Seif al-Islam’s capture was reported earlier by Mohammed al-Allagui, justice minister in the National Transitional Council, who told AFP he had been arrested in southern Libya without offering further details.

Meanwhile the head of the brigade which arrested Seif al-islam said that Qadhafi’s son asked his captors “to fire a bullet to his head and take him (dead) to Zintan.”