Tripoli, 24 March . . .[restrict]2013:
Morocco has handed over a wanted Qaddafi regime intelligence official, Ayman Abdelhamid Sulaiman Al-Sayeh. He arrived in Libya yesterday, Saturday, according to Interior Ministry spokesman Magdi Al-Arafi. He is wanted by Libya for alleged kidnapping, torture and human rights abuses.
Reports that Morocco was planning to extradite Sayah, 36, circulated last week. The son of Abdul Hamid Suleiman, head of the Office of the Internal Security Agency in Tripoli, who was accused on torture and brutality against rebels in Tripoli during the uprising, he is the first Qaddafi official wanted by Libya to have been extradited by Morocco.
Last year, Libya requested Morocco hand over a number of Qaddafi regime officials accused of human rights crimes and the Moroccan Ministry of Justice promised it would collaborate with Libyan officials on the matter, but until now nothing had happened.
Relations between the two countries have, however, been getting much closer recently. Two weeks ago, during a visit to Morocco by Libyan Industry Minister Suleiman Al-Fitouri, he and his Moroccan counterpart, Abdelkader Amar, agreed to collaborate on industrial investments with the establishment of joint companies, especially in the textile business.
Today in Doha, on the sidelines of the meeting of Arab Foreign Ministers ahead of Tuesday’s Arab Summit there, the Foreign Minister, Mohamed Abdulaziz, described Libya’s relations with Morocco as “historic”.
A number of joint agreements would be activated shortly, he said, adding that Prime Minister Ali Zeidan is to visit Morocco shortly. [/restrict]
