Libya - Trial of Gaddafi Son Likely To Be Delayed After Spy Chief Arrest

The trial of Muammar Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam may be delayed to include any relevant testimony obtained via interrogation from the country's former spy chief who was arrested on Wednesday, a government official said on Thursday.

Government officials said in August that Saif al-Islam's trial on war crimes charges - the most high-profile prosecution of a figure from his late father's entourage to date - was due to begin in September.

But the arrest on Wednesday of Abdullah Senussi, the former spy chief known as "Gaddafi's black box", appears to have pushed that date back, postponing a trial that a lawyer from the International Criminal Court (ICC) has already said is unlikely to be fair.

Senussi was handed over to Libya by Mauritanian authorities on Wednesday after being captured in the West African state in March, triggering a tug of war between Libya, France and the ICC for his extradition.

"We expect the trial of Saif al-Islam to be delayed a little because Abdullah Senussi will be able to provide new information that can be used in Saif's trial," Taha Ba'ara, a spokesman for the prosecutor general's office, told reporters on Thursday.

Libya's new rulers, who aim to draw up a democratic constitution, are keen to try Gaddafi's family members and loyalists at home to show the country's citizens that those who helped Gaddafi stay in power for 42 years are being punished.