NIAMEY, Libya, Feb. 11 (UPI) -- Officials in Niger said Saturday they will not return Saadi Gadhafi, son of deposed Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi, to Libya because he might be killed there.
Marou Amadou, a government spokesman, said Niger would surrender the younger Gadhafi to the International Criminal Court, the Arab-language broadcaster al-Arabiya reported. The ICC has indicted one of Saadi Gadhafi's brothers but has taken no action against him.
In a telephone interview with al-Arabiya, Saadi Gadhafi said supporters of his father, who was killed in the final days of the country's civil war, are organizing against the National Transitional Council and he expects to be able to return to Libya "at any time." The council requested his extradition late Friday.
Saadi Gadhafi was known more as a professional soccer player and captain of Libya's national team until the uprising last year, when he commanded the country's special forces. He fled to Niger after Tripoli fell.