THE HAGUE (Reuters) – The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court told the United Nations Security Council on Thursday that the court has issued four new secret arrest warrants for crimes allegedly committed in Libya since 2011.
“I can announce today that four warrants were issued by the independent judges of the International Criminal Court,” Karim Khan said in presenting his half-yearly report on Libya to the U.N. body.
He added that his office in the last few weeks had applied for two more arrest warrants, but judges have not yet ruled on those applications.
The warrants are currently under seal so it is not clear who is targeted or what crimes specifically the ICC prosecutor is charging. The prosecutor has asked judges for the warrants to be unsealed and a decision is pending.
The situation in Libya was referred to the ICC by the U.N. Security Council in 2011 and on its website the court says the focus of the investigation is alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in the country since 15 February 2011.
Libya has known little peace since a 2011 NATO-backed uprising and split in 2014 between warring eastern and western factions. Major fighting ended in 2020, but there has been little progress to a political solution and armed factions dominate on the ground.
(Reporting by Stephanie van den Berg; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
