Egypt To Try Qaddafi Aide For Murder, Resisting Arrest

Egypt prosecutor Hamdi Mansour on Sunday ordered that Ahmed Qaddaf Al-Dam – first cousin and former aide of slain Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi – be tried for attempted murder, resisting arrest and possession of unlicensed firearms.

The charges stem from a skirmish with police during Qaddaf Al-Dam’s arrest last month in Cairo.

Qaddaf Al-Dam had long been the point-man on relations between the two countries during the Qaddafi era, when he served as the Libyan leader’s coordinator for Egypt-Libya relations.

He recently challenged a Libyan request for his extradition. Two other former Libyan officials arrested along with him have already been sent back to Tripoli.

An Egyptian court recently ruled in Qaddaf Al-Dam’s favour on grounds that he feared he wouldn’t be guaranteed his full legal rights in post-revolution Libya. Qaddaf Al-Dam’s lawyers, meanwhile, say their client bears Egyptian nationality, and so therefore can’t be extradited.

Libya has asked Egypt to hand over a total of roughly 100 former Qaddafi regime officials.

Ahram