Former Gadhafi intelligence chief arrested

TRIPOLI, Libya – Mauritania on Saturday arrested Moammar Ghadafi’s former intelligence chief, accused of attacking civilians during the uprising in Libya last year and the 1989 bombing of a French airliner.

Mauritania’s state information agency said in a statement that Abdullah al-Senoussi was arrested at the airport in the capital Nouakchott upon arrival from the Moroccan city of Casablanca. It said he was carrying a fake Malian passport.

The Libyan government said in a statement Saturday it has requested from Mauritian officials that the spy chief be handed over to them for trial.

Judges at the Netherlands-based ICC issued an arrest warrant for al-Senoussi last June on two counts of crimes against humanity – murder and persecution – for allegedly masterminding attacks on civilians in the early days of the uprising that eventually toppled Gadhafi from power.