The ICC Prosecutor intends to visit Libya early next year

INA-  sources

The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, informed the UN Security Council that he intends to visit Libya early next year, “if circumstances permit,” noting that his team has not yet been able to visit this country due to the “Covid-19” pandemic and the security conditions in it.
 
“Early next year, if circumstances permit, I intend to go to Libya,” Khan told the 15 members of the Security Council during a meeting devoted to Libya and the International Criminal Court. “I would like to get more involved with the Libyan government, as well as with other actors,” he added, stressing the need for an “open dialogue.”
 
Allied fighter (archive)
Washington and the Taliban in a previous round of talks (archive)
For a long time, the International Criminal Court has investigated crimes against humanity, war crimes, and violations against migrants committed in Libya. The court’s investigations led, in particular, to the issuance of an international arrest warrant in 2011 against Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the current candidate in the presidential elections scheduled for December 24. Saif al-Islam, the son of the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, is wanted by the court on charges of committing “crimes against humanity” in his country.
 
During the Security Council session, the United States and Ireland, in particular, called on the Libyan authorities to hand over those wanted to the International Criminal Court for trial before it.
 
Khan, who was previously the defense lawyer for Saif al-Islam Gaddafi before the International Criminal Court, confirmed before the Security Council that he would relinquish any case related to the Libyan issue and that his impartiality could be called into question, stressing that this was exactly what he did in the case of his former client, which is now exclusively handled by his deputy. He has absolutely nothing to do with it.
 
The Prosecutor stressed that “this common endeavor to reduce impunity for genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes must be a path that brings us closer together rather than dividing us further.”