...as trial of ex-Gaddafi officials starts, sons absent

Libyan prosecutors on Monday began the trial of deposed leader Muammar Gaddafi’s sons and former regime officials in a major test for the North African state’s transition to a democracy.

Neither Saadi Gaddafi or Saif al-Islam were in the courtroom at Tripoli’s Al-Hadba prison, but Gaddafi’s ex-spy chief Abdullah al-Senussi was among the former officials sitting behind a fenced-off section before the judge, a Reuters reporter said The ICC ruled last year that Libya was able and willing to prosecute Mr al-Senussi, but it was still demanding the transfer of Mr Ghaddafi to the Hague. Reuters