International Criminal Court opens inquiry into Italy over release of Libyan warlord
THE HAGUE: Judges at the International Criminal Court have officially asked Italy on Monday to explain why the country released a Libyan man suspected of torture, murder and rape rather than sending him to The Hague.
Italian police arrested Ossama Anjiem, also known as Ossama Al-Masri, last month but rather than extraditing him to the Netherlands, where the ICC is based, sent him back to Libya aboard an Italian military aircraft.
'The matter of state's non-compliance with a request of cooperation for arrest and surrender by the court is before the competent chamber,' the court's spokesperson Fadi El-Abdallah said in a statement.
Addressing parliament last week, Italian Justice Minister Carlo Nordio defended the decision to send Al-Masri home, claiming the ICC had issued a contradictory and flawed arrest warrant. The court, he said, 'realized that an immense mess was made,' he told lawmakers.
Al-Masri was arrested in Turin on the ICC warrant on Jan. 19, the day after he arrived in the country from Germany to watch a soccer match. The Italian government has said Rome's court of appeals ordered him released on Jan. 21 because of a technical problem in the way that the ICC warrant was transmitted, having initially bypassed the Italian justice ministry.
The ICC said it does not comment on national judicial proceedings.
Al-Masri's arrest had posed a dilemma for Italy because it has close ties to the internationally recognized government in Tripoli as well as energy interests in the country.
According to the arrest warrant, Al-Masri heads the Tripoli branch of the Reform and Rehabilitation Institution, a notorious network of detention centers run by the government-backed Special Defense Force, which acts as a military police unit combating high-profile crimes including kidnappings, murders as well as illegal migration.
Like many other militias in western Libya, the SDF has been implicated in atrocities in the civil war that followed the overthrow and killing of the Libyan president Muammar Qaddafi in 2011.
Additionally, any trial in The Hague of Al-Masri could bring unwanted attention to Italy's migration policies and its support of the Libyan coast guard, which it has financed to prevent migrants from leaving.
In October, the court unsealed arrest warrants for six men allegedly linked to a brutal Libyan militia blamed for multiple killings and other crimes in a strategically important western town where mass graves were discovered in 2020.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Leaders
14 hours ago
- Leaders
Tunisian-led Convoy Heads to Gaza to Break Israeli Siege
Hundreds of activists joined a land convoy of buses and private cars, which departed from Tunisia's capital on Monday heading for Gaza, reported AFP. The aim of the convoy is to 'break the siege' imposed on the Gaza Strip, which has become 'the hungriest place on Earth,' according to the UN. While the nine-bus convoy will not bring aid into the enclave, it aims to break the blockade in a 'symbolic act.' The convoy, which carries the name 'Soumoud' (steadfastness), involves activists and doctors and is expected to reach the southern Gaza city of Rafah by the end of the week, according to the spokeswoman of the Tunisian Coordination of Joint Action for Palestine, the group organizing the convoy, Jawaher Channa. The land convoy includes around thousand people from Algeria, Tunisia, Mauritania, Morocco and Libya, with more people expected to join along its journey. 'We are about a thousand people, and we will have more join us along the way,' Channa said. The convoy will travel along the Tunisian and Libyan coasts, before crossing Egypt into Rafah. However, the Egyptian authorities have not yet given permissions for the convoy to cross its borders, Channa said. The North African initiative follows a similar one by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, in which its Madleen aid boat failed to reach Gaza's coast as Israeli forces seized it and detained all activists on board. The boat sailed from Sicily towards Gaza on June 1 to challenge the ongoing Israeli blockade and deliver a small amount of aid, in a symbolic show of support. Madleen was carrying 12 activists, including Greta Thunberg and Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament. It was carrying a small amount of humanitarian aid, including rice and baby formula. Short link : Post Views: 12
Saudi Gazette
15 hours ago
- Saudi Gazette
Israeli navy attacks Yemen's Houthi-held Hodeida port in first direct strikes from sea
HODEIDA — Israel's navy said on Tuesday that it attacked docks in Yemen's rebel-held port city of Hodeida, the first time that its naval forces have conducted strikes against the Iran-aligned Houthis. The Houthis announced the attack via their al-Masirah news channel. They said the attack targeted docks in Hodeida, without elaborating. The facilities there are vital for aid shipments to the hungry, war-stricken nation. Since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023, the Houthis have repeatedly launched missiles and drones targeting Israel, as well as attacks against commercial ships in what the rebels have described as acts of solidarity with the Palestinians. Late on Monday, Israel issued online warnings to Yemenis to evacuate from Ras Isa, Hodeida and al-Salif ports over the Houthis' alleged use of seaports for attacks. "The port is used to transfer weapons and is a further example of the Houthi terrorist regime's cynical exploitation of civilian infrastructure in order to advance terrorist activities," the Israeli military said in a statement Tuesday. Hodeida is also the main entry point for food and other humanitarian aid for millions of Yemenis since the war began when the Houthis seized Yemen's capital, Sanaa, in 2014. Writing on X on Tuesday, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz threatened the Houthis with a naval and air blockade if attacks on Israel continue. "We warned the Houthi terror organization that if they continue to fire at Israel they will face a powerful response and enter a naval and air blockade," he wrote. The majority of the missiles and drones that the Houthis have fired towards Israel have either not hit their targets or been intercepted. Israeli forces have carried several airstrikes in retaliation, including attacks on Saana International Airport. Between November 2023 and January 2025, the Houthis targeted more than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two of them and killing four sailors. That has greatly reduced the flow of trade through the Red Sea corridor, which typically sees $1 trillion (€876 billion) of goods move through it annually. The Houthis paused attacks in a self-imposed ceasefire until the US launched a broad assault against the rebels in mid-March. However, just before US President Donald Trump began his Middle East trip in mid-May, he paused the attacks, saying the rebels had "capitulated" to Washington's demands. Earlier on Tuesday, US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth wrote on X that US Navy ships used passed through the Red Sea and its Bab el-Mandeb Strait "multiple times in recent days" without facing Houthi attacks. It's unclear how the Houthis will respond now that an attack from Israeli has come from the sea, rather than the air. Meanwhile, the wider decade-long war in Yemen between the Houthis and the country's exiled government — backed by a Saudi-led coalition — remains in a stalemate. — Euronews
Leaders
3 days ago
- Leaders
Protesters Gather in Rome for Immediate End to Gaza War
Italy's main opposition parties urged tens of thousands of people to demonstrate through the streets of Rome on Saturday against Israel's war in Gaza, according to the Associated Press. Wide Participation The protests came in a crucial time when opposition parties accuse the right-wing government of being too silent regarding what is happening in Gaza. The rally moved peacefully through the center of Rome with demonstrators holding a banner reading 'Stop the massacre, stop complicity!' Protesters Gather in Rome for Immediate End to Gaza War Organized by the leftist opposition, the march witnessed the participation of 300,000 people who asked the government to clarify its stance on the conflict in Gaza. 'This is an enormous popular response to say enough to the massacre of Palestinians and the crimes of (Israeli leader Benjamin) Netanyahu's government,' the leader of Italy's center-left Democratic Party, Elly Schlein, told reporters at the march. Breaking Silent The Italian premier has recently urged Israel to put an immediate end to its military campaign in Gaza, warning that its attacks had increased disproportionately and should be halted to protect civilians. '(The Italian government) is not reacting despite an abnormal massacre, despite an absolutely cruel and inappropriate reaction. The (Italian) government remains silent,' said Nadin Unali, a Tunisian demonstrator at the march. A Call for Cutting Relations Protesters Gather in Rome for Immediate End to Gaza War Last week, the government of Italy's southern Puglia region cut relations with Israel over its genocide in Gaza, according to Al-Jazeera. Puglia Governor Michele Emiliano stated that the Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Therefore, Emiliano called for an immediate suspension of all relations with all representatives of Israeli government. Emiliano also urged 'all managers and employees of the region, its agencies and participating companies to sever all relations of any kind with the institutional representatives of the Israeli government and with all those subjects attributable to it who are not openly and declaredly motivated by the desire to organize initiatives to stop the massacre of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip,' according to state-run ANSA news agency. Since the beginning of Hamas-Israel War in Gaza in 2023, the Israeli strikes have killed more than 54,500 Palestinians and wounded more than 118,000, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Related Topics: Madleen Aid Ship Nears Gaza after Reaching Egyptian Waters Gaza Marks Eid Al-Adha with Looming Famine, Rising Violence Israel to Block Entry of Madleen Aid Ship Heading to Gaza Short link : Post Views: 3
