MOSCOW. March 6 (Interfax) - The Russian President's Special Representative for Cooperation with African States, Federation Council member Mikhail Margelov hopes the Libyan authorities would not treat the younger son of Muammar Qaddafi the way they treated his father and the U.S. ambassador murdered in Benghazi.
"Niger granted asylum to the younger son of Qaddafi for humanitarian considerations, which means his personal security was provided. Clearly, the authorities of Niger would not have been interested in his extradition if the incumbent Libyan administration had failed to guarantee that Qaddafi's son Saadi would not share the tragic lot of his father. We can only hope so," Margelov told Interfax in comment on Niger's decision to extradite Saadi Qaddafi to Libya.
He called symptomatic the fact that Saadi Qaddafi's extradition had been reported after the news of the rehabilitation of King Idris I of Libya in Tripoli.
"It seems the Libyan administration is taking serious steps towards national reconciliation and, in my opinion, one should see rehabilitation of the monarch and the readiness to receive Qaddafi's relative on terms, which would ensure his personal security and a fair evaluation of his activities, in this context. However, all of us remember the tragic death of the U.S. ambassador who was murdered by militants at the Consulate General in Benghazi, attacks against the Russian Embassy in Tripoli and many other things. I want to believe that Libya will put an end to these regretful practices in the near future," Margelov stressed.
Margelov noted that the Libyan authorities had declared their readiness not only to guarantee personal security of Qaddafi's son but also to comply with the legal norms in the evaluation of his activities.
"As we remember, since the victory of the Libyan revolution over the Qaddafi regime, the country has been boiling in the pot of revolutionary events and conflicting political trends and political groups have been having clashes, some of them armed, here or there," Margelov recalled.
Bearing in mind the latest positive signals the Libyan authorities are sending, the Russian envoy hopes that national reconciliation in Libya will be achieved after all.
As reported, Saadi Qaddafi's older brother, Saif al-Islam, is standing trial in Libya.
The other two sons of Qaddafi, Saif al-Arab and Khamis, died in 2011.
Some family members of the deceased Libyan leader, including his widow Safia, was granted asylum in Oman.