Tunisia mulls extradition of ex-Libyan PM

Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki has said his country will hand over former Libyan Prime Minister Al-Baghdadi Ali al-Mahmoudi to Tripoli if he is guaranteed to receive a fair trial. He said during his first state visit to Tripoli on Monday that Tunisia wanted to “make sure 1,000 percent that there is a fair trial, and that there's an independent judiciary.” Marzouki told Libyan civilian groups that as Tunisia has righ to demand the extradition of former Tunisian president Zine el Abidine Ben Ali to try him for crimes he committed, you also have to the right to ask for the extradition of Mahmoudi. Mahmoudi, Libya's prime minister since 2006, fled to Tunisia as the uprising against former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi neared its climax in August 2010. The 70-year-old is currently imprisoned in the town of Mornaguia, near Tunisian capital Tunis. He was convicted on September 22 of illegally entering Tunisia and was sentenced to six months in prison by a Tunisian court. Mahmoudi is fighting against extradition to Libya. Amnesty International has also requested Tunisia not to send Mahmoudi back to Libya, saying he could be subject to rights violations there. Mahmoudi's defense team says his extradition is not possible until the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees decides on his application for political refugee status in Tunisia.