Gadhafi daughter seeks ICC probe of deaths

TRIPOLI, Libya, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- The daughter of ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi pressed U.N. prosecutors to investigate the deaths of her father and a brother during Libya's uprising.

Aisha Gadhafi's lawyer, in a letter released Tuesday, questioned if the International Criminal Court was investigating the deaths of the Libyan leader and son, Mutassim, in the final days of the conflict, saying both were captured alive and posed no threat but were then "murdered in the most horrific fashion," CNN reported.

"If your office is not currently investigating the aforementioned crimes, could you explain why and what steps have you taken to ensure that the Libyan authorities are, themselves, investigating the matter properly and in accordance with international investigative standards?" attorney Nick Kaufman wrote to the ICC lead prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo.

The ICC prosecutor's office did not immediately respond, CNN said.

Gadhafi ruled Libya for more than four decades before being ousted in August. Libya's transitional government said he died in the cross-fire between its fighters and Gadhafi loyalists after he was captured in his hometown of Sirte Oct. 20. The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights and two human rights groups called for an investigation into Gadhafi's death.

An autopsy indicated he died from a gunshot wound to the head, but the attending pathologist did not reveal whether the shot was fired from close range or at a distance, CNN said.

Kaufman decried the public display of Gadhafi, his son and a long-time adviser in a meat locker for several days before burial, an action he said, was "in complete defiance of Islamic law."

He also asked if the ICC was investigating the NATO airstrike ahead of Gadhafi's capture, whether it got details of the autopsies and why it didn't send an independent expert to the autopsies.

Aisha Gadhafi and several family members fled to Algeria as the regime collapsed in August.

One of Gadhafi's son and a top aide, Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, was captured in November, Libyan officials said. Another son, Saadi Gadhafi, fled to Niger, where he was granted asylum.

Gadhafi's youngest son, Saif al-Arab Gadhafi, was reported killed during a NATO airstrike in April. Son Khamis Gadhafi, who led an army brigade blamed for the slaughter of prisoners in a warehouse near Tripoli, was killed in a battle in northwestern Libya in August, rebel commanders said.