Libya court sentences Gadhafi son to death for 2011 killings

TRIPOLI, Libya — A court in the Libyan capital has sentenced a son of Moammar Gadhafi to death in absentia over killings during the country’s 2011 uprising.

The Tripoli court handed down the sentence Tuesday for Seif al-Islam, who is currently being held by a militia that refuses to hand him over to the central government. The court sentenced eight others to death as well, including former Libyan spy chief Abdullah al-Senoussi.

Libya has slid into chaos since the 2011 overthrow and killing of Gadhafi. It is now bitterly divided between an elected parliament and government cornered in the country’s east, with little power on the ground, and an Islamist militia-backed government in the west that has seized Tripoli.

Since the end of Libya’s 2011 civil war, Seif al-Islam has been held by a militia in Zintan, which is allied with the Tobruk-based internationally recognized government against the Tripoli one.

Seif al-Islam also is wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague on charges of crimes against humanity.