Political
On 5 September, Abdullah Al Senussi,Libya’s former spy chief and brother-in-law to Moammar Al Qadhafi, was extradited from Mauritania to Tripoli. Al Senussi fled Libya in March 2011 and is also wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. Al Senussi was extradited from Mauritania following a deal brooked between the two countries. Al Senussi was subsequently transported to the Hadba Al Khadra prison which currently holds a number of other prominent former regime members, including Abu Zeid Dorda, Qadhafi’s former external intelligence chief, and Baghdadi Al Mahmoudi, his former prime minister.
According to the Libya Herald, the Libyan government reportedly struck a financial bargain with Mauritania prior to the handover, promising increased investment. However, Libyan officials stated that there had been no direct financial payment to the Mauritanian government in exchange for Senussi’s extradition. Reuters subsequently reported that Saif Al Islam's trial will now be delayed by five months to include any relevant testimony obtained during the forthcoming questioning of Al Senussi.
Libya’s future prime minister will be decided in voting on 12 September; a total of eight candidates have been nominated for the post. In reality it is believed that the real contest will be between the three front-runners, those with largest number of supporters in the General National Congress. The present electricity minister, Awad Barasi, is one strong contender whilst the other two are former prime minister Mahmoud Jibril and the present deputy prime minister Mustafa Abu Shagur.
A top adviser to Mahmoud Jibril told Turkish Weekly that Jibril has been trying to make up for lost time after an initial reluctance to pursue the premiership position. The advisor claimed that he had been expected to stay in the background and run for the presidency, but over the summer had changed his mind. In a separate report, Abdul Rahman Al Mansouri, a National Front adviser, predicted that there will be no clear winner in the first round of voting, but claimed that Mustafa Abu Shagur would be the likely winner, as he was the compromise candidate. Other reports have named Awad Barasi as the front-runner.