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THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The International Criminal Court on Monday unsealed an arrest warrant issued four years ago for the former head of Libya's Internal Security Agency for torture and other crimes committed during the violent crackdown on anti-government protesters in 2011.
The court said that Al-Tuhamy Mohamed Khaled is wanted for four crimes against humanity and three war crimes including torture, persecution, cruel treatment and outrages upon personal dignity committed on prisoners held by Libyan security forces during protests against the regime of former leader Moammar Gadhafi.
The arrest warrant was issued under seal in April 2013 and is being publicized now at the request of Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda who believes doing so could raise awareness and "could foster support and cooperation for an arrest operation from the international community," the court said in a statement.
The U.N. Security Council called on the Hague-based court to launch an investigation in Libya in 2011 following Gadhafi's brutal crackdown, but it has so far failed to prosecute a single suspect. Gadhafi was indicted, but was killed by rebels in his homeland.
The ICC also charged Gadhafi's son, Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, and former intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senoussi, with crimes against humanity during the 2011 rebellion that eventually toppled Moammar Gadhafi. ICC appeals judges ruled that authorities in Libya could try al-Senoussi. By contrast, ICC judges have ordered Seif al-Islam, his father's one-time heir apparent, to be turned over to the court for trial, but Libya has so far refused.
Al-Tuhamy's whereabouts weren't immediately clear. The arrest warrant issued in 2013 asks court officials to seek Egypt's cooperation in arresting him and sending him to The Hague for trial.
The ICC prosecutor's office couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
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