TRIPOLI, 2 September — Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi announced yesterday that his country’s prisons were free of political detainees except for members of Osama Bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda network. “As from the date of this anniversary, Libyan prisons will be empty, with the exception of a group of heretics believed to have links with what is known as Al-Qaeda and the Taleban,” Qaddafi said.
“So with the exception of the heretics, the prison will be emptied,” he said in a televised address yesterday marking the 33rd anniversary of the revolution that brought him to power. The Al-Qaeda suspects “were in Afghanistan and returned here and carried out killings in the streets. Some were arrested; some blew themselves up before being caught and others were arrested,” he said.
This is the first time Qaddafi is disclosing the presence of Al-Qaeda network in his country. He did not say how many had been arrested or where they were being held.
On Thursday, the Qaddafi Foundation, headed by the Libyan leader’s son Seif Al-Islam said it had won freedom for 65 members of the secular opposition detained since the 1980s.
He claimed the amnesty meant there were no more political activists in prison, except for “groups whose liberation menaces society,” referring to Islamists who had refused to “repent.”
In his speech, Qaddafi said Libya was treating its Al-Qaeda suspects in much the same way as Washington was treating the Guantanamo prisoners.
“We will treat them just like America is treating the others. We watch America, which is now the world leader and gives the signals to the world. Look how it is treating those held in Guantanamo,” he said.
