By Ashraf Abdul-Wahab.
Tripoli, 7 September:
Former spy-chief Abdullah Al-Senussi was caught off-guard by his extradition to Tripoli on Wednesday, having been told . . .[restrict]nothing about it by his Mauritanian captors up until the point he was confronted by the delegation from Libya that would be taking him home.
According to Finance Minister Hassan Zaglam, who was part of the delegation, Senussi had simply been told to prepare himself for an important meeting.
“Senussi was oblivious to the fact that he was about to be extradited”, Zaglam said. “He had been told he would be meeting an important person.
“As such, he prepared himself, for we found him wearing traditional dress and he was very surprised to find himself at the airport!”
Having realised what was about to happen, Senussi reportedly resisted efforts to put him on the plane, but he was eventually forced to do so by five security officers, believed to have been Mauritanian.
“Once inside the aeroplane he showed no signs of resistance”, Zaglam continued. “One of the crew offered him coffee at one point, to which he replied, ‘How can I, Abdullah Senussi, drink whilst being handcuffed!’.”
Senussi was reportedly found in good health, having been kept in a state of comfortable house arrest during his five month detention in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott.
He reportedly did not take any medication for the duration of his flight back to Tripoli, which landed at Metiga airbase in the early hours of Wednesday afternoon.
Senussi was subsequently transferred by helicopter to Tripoli’s Hadba Al-Khadra prison to await trial. [/restrict]
