Al-Senussi, Libya’s ex-spy chief wanted by ICC, arrested in Mauritania

Mauritania today said Abdullah Al-Senoussi, Libya's elusive ex-head of intelligence anted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), had been arrested, reported the Associated Press (AP). 

The country's state information agency issued a statement saying Al-Senoussi was apprehended at the Mauritanian capital's airport after flying in from Casablanca, Morocco. He was reportedly carrying a false Malian passport, said AP. 

Al-Senoussi, the brother-in-law of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi — who was ousted from power by a popular uprising earlier this year and brutally killed in October — was instrumental to the regime as the head of the national military intelligence, reported The Telegraph. 

Al-Senoussi has been on the run for months, disproving reports of his arrest in Libya back in November.

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Libyan authorities have yet to confirm today's arrest in Mauritania, said AP. 

If confirmed, Al-Senussi would be among one of the last key members of Gaddafi's inner circle to be apprehended.

The ICC considers Al-Senussi "one of the most powerful and efficient organs of repression of Muammar Gaddafi's regime" and has issued a warrent for his arrest on charges of crimes against humanity during the government's bloody crackdown on protests, said AFP. 

The once-powerful Libyan official could also be charged over the shooting of over 1,000 prisoners in the Abu Salim prison massacre of 1996, according to AFP.