Saif al-Islam Gadhafi Could Lose His Fingers

Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, the son of deceased Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, might need to have one or more fingers amputated.

When the one-time heir-apparent was captured earlier this month, three fingers on his right hand were wound thick with tight bandages. In a video taken shortly after his arrival in the city of Zintan, the wound seemed to be giving him so much pain that it was his main concern even over his detention.

The National Transitional Council (NTC), Libya's interim government, has allowed a Ukrainian doctor to examine Saif al-Islam's hand.

I went to some house in Zintan to dress Saif al-Islam. It was three days ago. And I found him sitting in a room and I dressed him. It was big finger and index on his right hand, Andrei Murakhovsky, a doctor working in Zintan, told The Telegraph.

This wound is not [in] good condition because this wound needs amputation, you know, because this wound is inflamed, with pus, with rotting tissue.

Saif al-Islam told his captors that his hand was wounded during a NATO airstrike. According to Murakhovsky, he has a broken bone and the tissue of his thumb, forefinger and middle finger was damaged and had developed gangrene. Murakhovsky also added that the cuts on Saif al-Islam's fingers indicate that they might have been damaged by more than just an explosion.

The fingers were cut, half cut and it wasn't cut but sharp, some sharp weapons or some knife or something like this. I suppose it was [wounded] after some explosion, he said.

This quote has led the ANI news agency to ask were Saif Gaddafi's fingers chopped off by Libyan rebels? The report claims that revolutionary fighters severed Saif al-Islam's finger as a punishment for the arrogant finger-wagging he did during the uprising.

So far, Murakhovsky is the only doctor who has been allowed to examine Saif al-Islam, and he was only allowed to do so once.

Libya's ruling council is currently investigating Saif al-Islam's alleged crimes in preparation for a criminal trial. Along with his father, the Libyan heir was wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity, but ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo has stepped aside, conceding Saif al-Islam's trial to a new Libyan government.

Mohammed Alagy, Libya's interim justice minister, told The Telegraph that the trial could begin in just two months, despite the fact that Libya has yet to set up a new justice system.

We are ready, Alagy said.

Apparently, Saif al-Islam is ready, too.

According to those guarding him, Saif al-Islam has been reserved and contemplative. He has refused to speak with journalists -- an uncharacteristic trait of Saif al-Islam just a few months ago -- and has been kept apart from the companions he was captured with.

He has not asked for books or anything. For sure, he is just sitting there just thinking about his fate, said brigade chief Osama Jueili.