The International Criminal Court has indicted Qaddafi and issued arrest warrants in June for him, his son Seif Al-Islam and Libyan intelligence chief Abdullah Al-Senussi on charges of crimes against humanity for their role in the killing of civilian protesters at the start of a six-month uprising.

“Yes, Qaddafi should be put on trial based on the rule of law — something that he never allowed his opponents to have,” Merkel was quoted telling Bild a.m. Sonntag newspaper to be published on Sunday.

Merkel also went out of her way to praise NATO’s role in bringing about Qaddafi’s downfall — in contrast to her Foreign Minister, Guido Westerwelle, who has controversially said it was UN-imposed economic sanctions that led to his downfall.

“I’ve got utmost respect for the NATO operations,” she said. “We made clear from the start that no one should confuse our decision to abstain (on the UN vote authoritizing) with neutrality. We stand firmly behind our allies and NATO.”

Westerwelle has faced ridicule, even within his own party, for stating that it was chiefly UN-imposed economic sanctions that led to the downfall of Qaddafi rather than rebel forces with NATO air support.

Germany angered its allies in March for abstaining in a UN Security Council vote authorizing military enforcement of no-fly-zone over Libya.