(AFP Photo)
Egyptians in Libya protested outside the Egyptian Embassy in Libya demanding that the Egyptian government hand over Libyan national Ahmed Qaddaf al-Dam.
State-run Al-Ahram reported that the Egyptians fear for their livelihoods in Libya if Qaddaf al-Dam is not extradited.
Egyptian Minister of Foreign of Affairs Mohamed Kamel Amr said he called his Libyan counterpart Mohamed Abdel Aziz along with other top Libyan officials to make sure that the procedures to protect the Egyptian embassy in Libya amid the protests are being carried out. He asserted that there is constant cooperation between the two countries for the benefits of both Egyptians and Libyans.
Libyans had also protested outside the Egyptian embassy in Libya Saturday demanding Qaddaf al-Dam’s extradition.
Earlier in April, a court had ruled against the extradition of Qaddaf al-Dam, the cousin of former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
Head of the Arab Penal Reform Organisation Mohamed Zare’ said the Egyptian government has to respect the court ruling.
Zare’ said whenever a prisoner is extradited to any country a number of conditions must be met, including guarantees for a fair trial, that the regime receiving the prisoner is not suspected of mistreating detainees and that there are no exceptional laws in the receiving country. He alleged that not one of the three will be met under the current Libyan rule. “Justice is not complete in Libya yet,” he said.
Zare’ said he thinks Qaddaf al-Dam might be extradited as part of a political deal, in return for money from Libya. “In this case, Egypt will be Libya’s partner in crime,” he said.
Libya is host to a large Egyptian expatriate community, some of whom feel threatened by Egypt’s decision not to extradite Qaddaf al-Dam. Zare’ said the Egyptian community in Libya should not be used to pressure Egypt, citing it as unacceptable.
He believes that Egypt should only hand him over for justice and under the guarantee that he will be tried internationally, which does not mean he must be tried on Libyan soil.
Zare’ said Qaddaf al-Dam has applied for Egyptian citizenship and political asylum in Egypt.
Qaddaf al-Dam who is wanted for charges of corruption during Gaddafi’s regime was arrested in Cairo last month. He was arrested along with two other Libyan former officials in the Gaddafi regime, Ali Maria and Mohammed Ibrahim. During the arrest, Egyptian security and Qaddaf al-Dam’s bodyguards exchanged fire in Zamalek, leaving one policeman injured.
State-run news agency MENA reported that Maria and Ibrahim’s extraditions were ordered by Egyptian Prosecutor General Tala’at Abdullah. The extradition came after top judicial officials from the neighbouring countries signed a memorandum agreeing that the extradited prisoners would be subjected to a fair and transparent trial.
Before the extradition, the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights had expressed concerns about the extraditing the prisoners. It argued that they may not get a fair trial and their lives may be put at risk.
