UN urged to act on Libya's Senussi breach

The defence team of former Libyan intelligence chief and brother-in-law of Muammar Gaddafi, Abdullah al-Senussi, has called on the International Criminal Court to report Libya to the United Nations over the suspect's trial. The legal team, led by Ben Emmerson QC, has filed an application to the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber stressing on the need for Libyan authorities to comply with their obligations and hand al-Senussi over to the ICC. Earlier this month, the official spokesperson for Libya’s Attorney General, Taha Bara, said that al-Senussi along with Saif al-Islam Gaddafi will be put on trial in February. The lawyers have also written a letter to the UN Security Council in which they claim that Libya is in breach of Security Council Resolution 1970 which calls on member states to cooperate with the International Criminal Court on such matters. Libya maintains that it is not obliged to hand al-Senussi over to the ICC, adding that it is still questioning him about Saif al-Islam Gaddafi. In a letter to Masood Khan, Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations, Ben Emmerson QC  writes that "Libya and Mauritania are both obliged, as a matter of international obligation, to co-operate fully with the ICC, and to comply with the Order of the Chamber of 4 July 2011 to arrest Mr al-Senussi and surrender him to the ICC." Al-Senussi was arrested at Nouakchott airport in Mauritania, in March last year. In September, Mauritania handed him over to Libyan authorities.