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Mauritania arrests top Libyan sought by ICC

TRIPOLI, Libya — Mauritania on Saturday arrested Moammar Ghadafi’s former intelligence chief, accused of attacking civilians during the uprising in Libya last year and the 1989 bombing of a French airliner. The International Criminal Court, France and Libya all said they want to prosecute Abdullah al-Senoussi.

Mauritania’s state information agency said that al-Senoussi was arrested at the airport in the capital Nouakchott upon arrival from the Moroccan city of Casablanca. It said he was carrying a fake Malian passport.

A spokesman for Libya’s ruling National Transitional Council, Mohammed al-Hareiz confirmed that the ex-intelligence chief had been captured by Mauritian officials.

As Gadhafi’s regime crumbled in the second half of 2011 after more than four decades of rule, many of the dictator’s inner circle fled from advancing rebels toward the Sahara.

A Libyan military official said al-Senoussi, who is Gadhafi’s brother-in-law, likely fled to Chad just before the opposition captured the capital Tripoli in October and passed through Mali and Morocco before heading to Mauritania.

France wants to get custody of al-Senoussi. He was one of six Libyans convicted in absentia and sentenced to life in prison in France for the 1989 bombing of a passenger jet over Niger that killed all 170 people on board.

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