[Libya Herald] Egypt has arrested Qaddafi's cousin and leading aide, Ahmed Qaddaf Al-Dam, as well as at least two other Qaddafi regime figures wanted by Libya. Reports were circulating in Tripoli for much of the late morning, Tuesday, but were confirmed this evening by Prime Minister Ali Zeidan.Speaking at a press conference this evening he said that former director of Libyan Radio and member of Qaddafi's inner circle Ali al-Kilani as well as former Libyan ambassador Ali Marya had also been arrested.
Egyptian officials reported that Qaddaf Al-Dam was arrested this morning following a pre-dawn siege at his home in the fashionable Cairo district of Zamalek, not far from the Libyan embassy. He is said to have surrendered after a short gunfight in which three policemen were reportedly wounded.
According to the Egyptian news agency, he will be held for 30 days during which time Libya can file extradition charges. Officials said Qaddaf al-Dam may face further prosecution by Egyptian authorities for resisting arrest.
In addition to Qaddaf Al-Dam and Ali Marya, they said that another Qaddafi figure, Mohamed Ibrahim Ali, had also been detained. There may, however, have been some confusion over the name, and they may have been referring to Kilani.
Qaddaf Al-Dam had good connections in Egypt; he was coordinator of the Egyptian-Libyan relations under Qaddafi and this appears to have protected him until now.
Exactly a year ago, following a visit to Cairo by Libyan Attorney General Abdulaziz Al-Hasadi to demand that it hand over number of former Qaddafi officials, including Ahmed Qaddaf-Adam, Egypt said it was considering doing so.
Although the Egyptians have long known where he lived, nothing then happened until earlier this year. At the beginning of February, Egypt placed a travel ban on six Qaddafi regime figures in the country, preventing them from leaving. Qaddaf Al-Dam was said to be one of them, as was Mohamed Ibrahim Ali.