Tunisia frees former Libyan PM: lawyer
TUNIS. October 27. KAZINFORM A Tunisian court has freed former Libyan prime minister Al-Baghdadi Ali Al-Mahmoudi despite an extradition request from Libyan authorities, his lawyer said on Thursday; Kazinform refers to Arab News.
"The court ruled to free him from prison," Mabrouk Korchid told Reuters. Confirming the report, a judicial source said Al-Mahmoudi was now a free man.
Mahmoudi fled Libya to neighboring Tunisia soon after the rule of Muammar Qaddafi collapsed in August and had gone on hunger strike in protest against his possible extradition.
In an interview this month with Reuters conducted via his lawyer, Mahmoudi said he was not involved in repression during Qaddafi's 42-year rule and wanted to cooperate with Libya's new interim government.
Al-Mahmoudi, Libyan prime minister from 2006, is the highest-ranking member of Qaddafi's administration now in detention. During the civil war this year, he gave televised briefings defending Qaddafi and accusing NATO of deliberately killing civilians; Kazinform cites Arab News.
To learn more go to www.arabnews.com