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Wanting answers … Aisha Gaddafi says she was caused ''severe emotional distress'' by the images of her father's death. Photo: Reuters

JERUSALEM: The daughter of the former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has hired an Israeli lawyer to petition the International Criminal Court to investigate the circumstances of the death of her father.

Aisha Gaddafi, who fled Libya in August before the capture and killing of her father by opposition forces, says she was caused ''severe emotional distress'' by the images of his death and the treatment of his body.

Nick Kaufman, a former senior prosecutor at the ICC and now an international lawyer in Jerusalem, wrote to the ICC prosecutor Jose Luis Moreno Ocampo earlier this month to demand an immediate investigation.

Gaddafi and his son Mutassim ''were murdered in the most horrific fashion, with their bodies thereafter displayed and grotesquely abused in complete defiance of Islamic law'', the letter said. ''The images of this savagery were broadcast throughout the world, causing my client severe emotional distress.''

Mr Kaufman demanded answers to whether the ICC was investigating the circumstances of the deaths, whether it had received reports of autopsies, why the court had not ordered its own independent autopsy and whether it was investigating an alleged attack by NATO forces on Gaddafi's convoy shortly before his capture and killing.

''To date, neither Ms Gaddafi nor any member of her family has been informed by your office of the initiation of an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the brutal murders,'' said the letter, which was sent on December 13.

A reply sent a week later from an ICC official, Phakiso Mochochoko, said the Libyan authorities had promised to investigate Gaddafi's death and that the ICC's prosecutors' office would report on their progress in May.

Mr Kaufman said: ''We don't think the [present Libyan government] has the capacity or will to investigate this crime. We are demanding an immediate investigation by the ICC.''

A delay until May would mean the loss of ballistic and forensic evidence and increased difficulties in identifying objective eyewitnesses, he said.

Ms Gaddafi fled to Algeria with her mother and two brothers soon after the fall of Tripoli. Last month she called for a revolt against Libya's new leaders, saying: ''Don't forget the orders of your father, urging you to continue fighting, even if you no longer hear his voice.''

The ICC issued arrest warrants in June for Gaddafi for crimes against humanity.

Guardian News & Media