Seif al-Islam Gaddafi Seif Al-Islam, ousted Libyan Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's son has been arrested in south Libya. The statement came on Saturday from the ruling National Transitional Council's justice minister Mohammed Al-Allagui, who declined to give any details.
The younger Gaddafi was in good health, the justice minister added.
An NTC commander told reporters from Tripoli that Seif al-Islam was arrested near the town of Oubari along with three of his aids.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor's Office said it had received confirmation of the arrest of Muammar Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam, from Libya's Ministry of Justice.
"We are coordinating with the Libyan Ministry of Justice to ensure that any solution with regards to the arrest of Saif al-Islam is in accordance with the law," ICC prosecution office spokeswoman Florence Olara said.
Muammar Gaddafi’s second son, 39, went underground as Tripoli fell to revolutionary forces in late August and his whereabouts remained unknown even after Gaddafi was captured and killed by revolutionary forces on October 20.
There was no word of the other official wanted by the ICC, former intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi.
The news broke as fighters from Zintan, a powerful faction among the many armed groups currently dominating Libya while the NTC tries to form a new government, started celebrating in Tripoli.
Bashir Thaelba, a Zintan field commander who had called a news conference on another issue, told reporters in the capital that Gaddafi would be held in Zintan until there was a government to hand him over to. The government is due to be formed within days.
"The rebels of Zintan announce that Seif al-Islam Gaddafi has been arrested along with three of his aides today," Thaelba said in remarks carried on Libyan television. "We hope at this historical moment that the future of Libya will be bright."
Amnesty International demanded Saturday that the NTC must transfer Seif al-Islam Gaddafi to face investigation at the ICC.
"If reports are correct that Seif al-Islam al-Gaddafi has been captured by the Libyan authorities, he must be handed over to the ICC, and his safety and rights must be guaranteed," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Deputy Director.
"After what happened after the capture of Muammar and Mutassim Gaddafi, we hold the NTC responsible for preventing similar harm coming to Seif al-Islam al-Gaddafi, so that he can face justice for his alleged crimes in a fair trial with no death penalty."
"Investigating Seif al-Islam before the ICC offers an opportunity to ensure justice, truth and reparation for the victims of the crimes against humanity he is charged with committing against the Libyan people - justice that may have been denied with the apparently unlawful killing of Muammar Gaddafi."
Libya has also been warned the UK will not tolerate the "extra-judicial assassination" of Seif al-Islam after reports emerged that he had been captured.
Libyan militia commander Bashir al-Tlayeb told a press conference that the son of former dictator Muammar Gaddafi was captured in Southern Libya with two aides, who were trying to smuggle him out to neighbouring Niger.
He is being taken to the city of Zintan in Northern Libya and is in good health, according to the National Transitional Council's Mohammed al-Allagui.
Former Lib Dem leader Sir Menzies Campbell said Libya must now prove it deserves its place among "civilised nations" by following "due process" in dealing with Seif al-Islam, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.
He said: "The government of Libya is on trial. Anything other than due process should not be tolerated.
"The UK did not commit in Libya to tolerate extra-judicial assassination as happened with his father.
"If Libya wishes to take its place among civilised nations it must take this opportunity to demonstrate it's commitment to the rule of law."
Seif Al-Islam always stood apart from his siblings, who were better known for their antics and eccentricities than their achievements.
Educated in Britain and fluent in English, Seif al-Islam found favor among prominent Western intellectuals, exhibited his paintings at galleries around the world, and won plaudits from world leaders and rights campaigners with talk of democracy and development.
He was long touted as the senior Gaddafi’s heir apparent and the man who would modernise and reform the country, but that position was always far from certain, and he faced fierce resistance from hard-liners in the regime as well as his younger brother, Muatassim, who served as national security adviser.
Muatassim also killed on October 20, according to officials of the transitional government. Killed earlier in the civil war were younger brothers Seif al-Arab and Khamis. Qaddafi’s other son, al-Saadi, fled to Niger in September, where the government has said it is treating him as a refugee. Their mother Safiya and sister Aisha fled to neighboring Algeria.
In a televised address five days after anti-government protests broke out in the eastern city of Benghazi as part of the wider Arab Spring uprising, a haggard-looking Seif al-Islam warned of “rivers of blood” if demonstrators refused to accept government offers of reform.
“We will fight until the last man, the last woman, the last bullet,” he said. “We will not lose Libya.”
The rambling, 40-minute speech marked Seif Al-Islam’s transformation from the man long viewed as the best hope for reforming his father’s regime into a fugitive wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of crimes against humanity.
The ICC issued warrants on June 27 against Seif al-Islam as well as his father and Abdullah al-Senussi, the late dictator's intelligence chief, on charges of crimes against humanity in crushing anti-regime protests.