Tripoli trials - Libya can show growth

THE capture of Muammar Gaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam and the former spymaster Abdullah Senussi marks the end of a regime that terrorised Libya for decades.

It also gives Libya’s National Transitional Council, the country’s interim authority, an opportunity to show that it is capable of breaking with the past. Those who defeated Gaddafi want to bring his son and Senussi to trial in Libya where they would face the death penalty.

It would be better by far, however, if they both stood trial before the International Criminal Court. Even if brought to trial in Tripoli, they could always be sent onto the Hague afterwards as a clear demonstration of the council’s claim that things really have changed.

This situation also provides Foreign Minister Eamon Gilmore with an opportunity to strongly support the principle that not only should justice be done — it should be seen to be done.