Libya gunmen kidnap ex-spy chief's daughter

TRIPOLI (AFP) - Gunmen kidnapped the daughter of Libya's former spy chief Abdullah Senussi as she left a Tripoli jail after serving out a prison sentence, Justice Minister Salah al-Marghani said on Tuesday.

Senussi was the intelligence chief for Libya's long-time dictator Moamer Kadhafi, and his daughter Unud had completed a 10-month jail term when she was snatched on Monday.

"Turban-wearing armed men in five vehicles attacked the convoy that was accompanying Unud al-Senussi as she left prison and kidnapped her," Marghani said.

He added that the convoy had been due to take Senussi's daughter, in her early 20s, to the airport to join her family when the attack took place outside Ain Zara prison in the Tripoli suburbs.

"It is the shared responsibility of the government, of the thuwar (former rebels who fought Kadhafi) and the international community to find this girl," he added, calling on those who kidnapped Senussi to return her without delay.

The justice minister announced on August 27 the terms of Unud Senussi's release. She was arrested in October with a false passport and sentenced to 10 months in prison.

Her father Abdullah, Kadhafi's brother-in-law and intelligence chief, is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of crimes against humanity during the 2011 armed revolt which toppled the former regime.

But Tripoli and the ICC have been locked in a legal tug-of-war over where Senussi should face trial for his role in trying to put down the insurrection.

In June, the ICC authorised Libya to hold Senussi while they awaited a decision on Tripoli's ability to try him.

Tripoli has said Senussi will be tried in a case with along with around 30 former officials, including the slain Kadhafi's son, Saif al-Islam, also sought by the ICC. Hearings are due to begin on September 19.