The only surviving son of former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi has been sentenced to death by a Libyan court.
Saif al Islam Gaddafi was sentenced in absentia in Tripoli over killings during the country’s 2011 uprising.
He is being held in the southwestern town of Zintan by rebel militias who have refused to hand him over to the central government.
Eight others – including former Libyan spy chief Abdullah al Senussi – were also sentenced to death by the court.
Saif Gaddafi was once tipped by Western governments to lead Libya towards democracy.
Educated at the London School of Economics and considered by many to be the country’s de-facto prime minister, he refused to abandon his father when protests sprung in several Libyan cities in early 2011.
He was found by fighters from the Zintan brigade trying to cross into Niger a month after his father Colonel Gaddafi was captured and killed four years ago.
