International court demands information on Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

Libya needs to provide information to the International Criminal Court (ICC) about the conditions faced by Saif al-Islam Gaddafi in prison, the court said Thursday, DPA reported.

The ICC has given Libya until September 7 to provide information about the son of executed former Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi. The younger Gaddafi stands accused before the international body for crimes against humanity stemming from violence related to the country's 2011 uprising against the elder Gaddafi.

ICC judges noted that Gaddafi has been held by Libyan authorities for nine months. The court also noted that Libya needs to clarify whether Gaddafi has a defence attorney.

Lawyers representing Gaddafi at the ICC said he has been cut off from the outside world. He is said to fear a show trial in Libya and has expressed a preference for being tried before the international body.

"I'm not afraid to die, but if they execute me after a show trial, then that is like murder," the lawyers quoted Gaddafi as saying.

The court also issued an arrest warrant for former Libyan intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi. Libya has refused to release either man to the ICC and had declared that it plans to try them in Libyan courts.

The ICC and Libyan authorities have already clashed over the Gaddafi case this year after a team of ICC lawyers was detained in Libya in June after allegedly trying to pass information to Gaddafi during a visit.