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Tunisia to extradite former Libyan PM

23 May 2012 04:38 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The Tunisian Justice Ministry says it will extradite former Libyan Prime Minister Al-Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi to his homeland "in the coming weeks", APA reports quoting Press TV.

Justice Ministry spokesman Mondher Ben Dhiyaf made the announcement on Tuesday, saying the decision to extradite the ex-premier was taken after Libyan Prime Minister Abdel Rahim al-Keib assured his Tunisian counterpart, Hamadi Jebali, that al-Mahmoudi would receive a fair trial.

Ben Dhiyaf said al-Keib gave the guarantee to Tunisia during a visit to Tunis last week.

Al-Mahmoudi was arrested last September for illegally crossing the border into Tunisia while fleeing from Libya.

He was Libya’s prime minister from 2006 until former dictator Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown in August 2011.

Al-Mahmoudi would be the first senior former regime official to be handed over to Libya’s new authorities by a foreign government.

Human rights groups have opposed the extradition, saying al-Mahmoudi might be tortured by Libyaâ€™s new rulers.

Libya’s new government wants the former prime minister to be held accountable for crimes he allegedly committed as the final prime minister under Gaddafi.

Gaddafi was killed in Sirte in October 2011, eight months into an uprising that ended his 42-year dictatorship.