My father is safe, still in Tripoli: Gaddafi's son

Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi's son Seif al-Islam, who was rumoured to have been arrested by rebels, appeared at the Rixos hotel in Tripoli in the wee hours of Tuesday and spoke to some of the journalists staying there.

Rebel leaders had claimed that Seif al-Islam had been arrested and he was expected to be tried at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

Putting these speculations to rest, Seif al-Islam made an appearance at the hotel in an armoured vehicle.

He claimed that reports about rebels taking over Libya's capital Tripoli, marking the end of his father's 42-year regime, were false.

"We broke the backbone of the rebels," the BBC quoted a smiling Seif al-Islam as saying.

He is the second son of Gaddafi and is widely believed to have been his chosen successor before the armed rebellion started.

Seif al-Islam also claimed that his father was perfectly safe, contradicting reports about rebels closing in on the dictator. Dismissing reports about Gaddafi fleeing to Algeria, he said the Libyan dictator was still in Tripoli.

Image: Seif al-Islam with his supporters at the Rixos hotel in Tripoli | Photograph: Reuters