Gaddafi wanted to die in Libya rather than face trial at ICC

Former head of internal security services Mansur Daou, the man closest to Col. Muammar Gaddafi, said Tuesday from his prison cell in Misrata that “depressed and worried, Muammar Gaddafi, spent his last days in Sirte preferring to die in Libya rather than standing trial at the International Criminal Court.”

"Gaddafi and his son decided to stay in Libya after the arrest warrants were issued by the ICC," Daou said, adding that  “Seif al-Islam and his brother Mutassim wanted Gaddafi to stay in Libya, particularly Seif.”   

On August 19, NTC fighters reached the outskirts of Tripoli, forcing Gaddafi to flee to his hometown of Sirte.     

Daou confirmed that Gaddafi knew it was over the moment his troops were pushed out of Misrata, “he became much more nervous at that point" he added.    

Gaddafi "was also under pressure because his friends abandoned him; from French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi to Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan and former British premier Tony Blair.     

Daou added that “Gaddafi first lived in a hotel in Sirte, but moved out in mid-September when NTC forces arrived in the suburbs; he had to change his location on a daily basis to stay safe.”