Libya admits to torture

An update on the story of the Bulgarian nurses and Palestinian doctors released from Libyan prison in response to European bribery soft power.

It seems that Dr Ashraf Alhajouj is, after all, filing a complaint against Libya before a UN "human rights panel". If that means the Human Rights Council, I do not expect very much will come of that.

Still, Libya responded in the shape of another interview with Colonel Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam (yes, him again). According to an article on Al-Jazeera, which refers back to the interview in Newsweek, Gaddafi Junior cheerfully admitted that torture had been used on the medics but it was not nearly as bad as Dr Alhajouj makes out. Really, the man is such a wimp.

In an interview on Wednesday, Saif al-Islam said: "Yes, they were tortured by electricity and they were threatened that their family members would be targeted. But a lot of what the Palestinian doctor has claimed are merely lies."

He also expressed doubts about Libya being held responsible for that very mild torture and in that he was probably right. I can't imagine who will hold them responsible. The European Union perchance?

Anyway it was all the Europeans' fault.

He said the process was initiated by the Europeans.

Saif al-Islam told Newsweek magazine on Wednesday: "Yeah, it's an immoral game, but they set the rules of the game, the Europeans, and now they are paying the price ... Everyone tries to play with this card to advance his own interest back home."

In the interview to Al Jazeera, Saif al-Islam vouched for the innocence of the medics, but said that conflicting reports implicating them had been submitted to the Libyan courts.

The courts had relied on these documents, he said.

Hard to tell what he really meant or why he is always being pushed out to make statements of this kind.