On 11 August, the GNU Military Prosecutor, Mohammed Gharouda’s, order for Saif al-Islam al-Qadhafi, the son of the former dictator Muammar al-Qadhafi, to be arrested circulated on social media having been issued on 5 August.The warrant appeared to refer to case 114/2019 regarding killings by Russian Wagner Group mercenaries during the offensive by the Libyan National Army (LNA) on Tripoli in 2019-2020. The office had reportedly already issued arrest warrants for several top commanders from the LNA, including Khalifa Haftar, in 2019 and 2020. Libyan news outlets indicated that the arrest warrant was issued for Gadhafi’s ‘involvement in murders and recruiting mercenaries’ and said the military prosecutor’s office had included its directives in a communique to the Military Police Department, the Military Intelligence Department, and several other security and military agencies including Tripoli’s Special Deterrence Force (Rada) and the 444 Brigade. The communique reportedly said the order came as part of a case file ‘related to the incident of murders committed by mercenaries of Russian nationality.’.
