Qaddafi Son Saif Arrested In Libya's South

Saif al-Islam Qaddafi appears in front of supporters and journalists at his father's residential complex in Tripoli in late February.

Libyan news agencies are quoting Libyan Justice Minister Mohammed al-Alagi as saying that Saif al-Islam, the son of slain Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, has been arrested in country's south.

The minister and other officials said Saif and several bodyguards -- but no other senior figures from the ousted administration -- were said to have been caught south of Tripoli by fighters based in the western mountain town of Zintan.

Alagi told Reuters that that the 39-year-old fugitive, the last of Qaddafi's eight children still on the run following the collapse of their father's rule, was arrested "in the Obari area." He was not reported to have been injured in the arrest and was said to be in good health.

International Criminal Court Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo had said in late October that the court had made informal contact with Saif through intermediaries, and that one of the most visible faces of the ousted Qaddafi regime had maintained his innocence.

Saif al-Islam Qaddafi is suspected of crimes against humanity during the latter stages of his father's four-decade domination of the country, for which Interpol issued a "red notice" for his arrest in early September, along with warrants for his father's arrest and that of former Libyan intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi.

Muammar Qaddafi was killed by fighters for Libya's transitional forces after reportedly being pulled from a drainage pipe in his hometown of Sirte on October 20.

compiled from Reuters and other agency reports