Delivered Into Enemy Hands - Human Rights Watch

ecause she knew everything about the Libyan guys—their fake names, their true names,
everything.” For the first part of the interrogation, Musa Kusa was present in the room, but
he eventually left the room “angrily” over Saadi’s denials that he and his group were the
same as al Qaeda. “He was telling them that there was no difference between our group
and al Qaeda and that we are dangerous not only for Libyans but for Westerners especially.”
They questioned Saadi for several hours over one day, asking him about his time in China
and one of the Libyans living in the UK. He said they did not physically abuse him.
The second group of American interrogators—a team of five—consisted of the same short
thin man, another man, and three women, including the interpreter. This time the questions
were much more specific and lasted all day, until past midnight.
Sometime between the first and second visit by American interrogators, a team of two that
Saadi believes were from the United Kingdom questioned him—a man in his 30s with
brown hair and a short beard and a woman in her 40s who was thin and blond. He said the
British interrogation was short and focused more on the LIFG’s ideology.
Saadi said the French-speaking agents questioned him about a year into his imprisonment
and that the “nicest” interrogators were the Italians. “They were so decent with me,” he
said. They asked “for permission” to interrogate him and explained that “it would be very
useful to know” certain things. “They knew I had met Osama bin Laden and wanted to
know more about this. They also asked my opinions about things like whether or not I
thought their presence in Iraq would result in retaliations against Italy.”
In 2009, Saadi was charged with 14 crimes, including attempting to overthrow the government
and spreading ideology against the revolution. His trial took place in the prison and
he was convicted and sentenced to death. Saadi was released on March 23, 2010 as part
of the same negotiated release that freed Belhadj, Sharif, and other prisoners (see above).
Yet after the uprisings against Gaddafi began in February 2011, he was arrested again,
along with his son, and held until August 2011, when rebel forces captured Tripoli.
In October 2011, Saadi filed a lawsuit against the British government (the security services,
the attorney-general, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and the Home Office) for their
109 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | SEPTEMBER 2012