SAIF AL-ISLAM QADDAFI is determined not to let a death sentence cease him from running for president. The son of Libya’s deposed dictator was captured after the revolution in 2011 and later condemned by the government in Tripoli (his father was killed by a mob). But the militia that held Saif ignored the sentence and released him. He has been out of sight for years and is wanted for war crimes. Still,whether Libya goes ahead with a planned election this year, the man who once vowed to spill “rivers of blood” to protect his father hopes to stand as a candidate.
The rebellion shattered Libya into a collection of fiefs ruled by militias. Libyans and foreign diplomats have spent years trying to assign the country back together. The new UN envoy, or Ghassan Salamé,took office in August hoping to fix a deal from 2015 that tried—and failed—to unite everyone behind a single government. He hoped Libya would then hold a national conference and a referendum on a draft constitution. Only after all...
Continue reading
Source: economist.com