Newsmaker: Saif al-Islam, Gaddafi's enigmatic and elusive son - Reuters Canada

By David Stamp

LONDON (Reuters) - Saif al-Islam Gaddafi is the most enigmatic of Muammar Gaddafi's children, apparently turning within weeks from philanthropist and liberal reformer into a fighter ready to die on his home soil rather than surrender.

Gaddafi junior, whose name means "Sword of Islam," is also the most elusive of the late Libyan leader's eight offspring, wanted on war crimes charges but evading a manhunt for months to remain the only leading family member still at large.

Educated at the London School of Economics and a fluent English speaker, Saif al-Islam was once seen by many governments as the acceptable, Western-friendly face of Libya, and a possible heir apparent.

But when a rebellion broke out in February against Muammar Gaddafi's long rule, Saif al-Islam immediately chose family and clan loyalties over his many friendships in the West.

"We fight here in Libya; we die here in Libya," he told Reuters Television in an interview early in the rebellion.

Three of Gaddafi's sons have indeed died on their home soil during the civil war, but not Saif al-Islam.

A senior official of the National Transitional Council (NTC) said on Friday that he was fleeing south from the last Gaddafi stronghold of Sirte toward Libya's border with Niger, where another son has already taken refuge.

Saif al-Islam has long played the pimpernel. As Tripoli fell to rebels in August, the International Criminal Court's prosecutor announced he had been arrested, opening the way for his extradition to the Hague court on the war crimes charges.   Continued...