The West African nation of Mauritania has extradited Abdullah al-Senussi, the notorious former intelligence chief in Moammar Gadhafi’s regime in Libya, almost a year after his leader’s death.
Abdullah al-Senussi will likely be tried for allegedly committing a series of crimes against humanity by a Libyan court. Senussi is also wanted by the International Criminal Court, or ICC, and by the government of France on similar charges.
"He was extradited to Libya on the basis of guarantees given by Libyan authorities," a Mauritanian government source told Reuters.
Senussi fled Libya soon after the uprising that removed Gadhafi from power last year.
Among other crimes, Senussi is thought to have been one of the masterminds behind the bombing of the Pan Am airliner that blew up over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988 -- an atrocity that killed almost 300 people both on the aircraft and on the ground.
Senussi is also linked to the massacre at Libya’s Abu Salim prison in 1996 (which may have caused the deaths of as many as 1,300 inmates).
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