Saif al Islam Gaddafi is
being held in the southern town Zintan by a rebel group that opposes the
government in Tripoli and refuses to hand him over.
The son of former dictator
Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has been sentenced to death by a court in Libya.
Saif al Islam Gaddafi, who
was not present at the ruling, was convicted in the Tripoli court of murder and
inciting genocide during the country's 2011 uprising.
Eight others - including
former Libyan spy chief Abdullah al Senussi - were also sentenced to death by
the court.
For three decades, Senussi
- who is in government custody - was Colonel Gaddafi's chief enforcer, accused
of oppression at home and terrorism abroad.
Saif Gaddafi is also wanted
by the International Criminal Court on charges of crimes against humanity.
Educated at the London
School of Economics, he was the most high-profile of Colonel Gaddafi's eight
children.
He was once considered
de-facto prime minister and tipped by Western governments to one day lead the
country towards democracy.
But he refused to abandon
his father when protests erupted in several Libyan cities in early 2011.
Colonel Gaddafi was
eventually captured and killed by rebel fighters in his hometown of Sirte in
October of that year.
A month later, Saif was
found by fighters from the Zintan brigade trying to cross into Niger. He has
been held ever since.
Three of Colonel Gaddafi's
sons were killed during the uprising, including former National Security
Adviser Mutassim who was found hiding alongside his father.
The ex-dictator's widow
Safiya Gaddafi and three of their children - Aisha, Hannibal and Mohammed -
fled to Algeria in August 2011 as rebel forces seized Tripoli.
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