HARARE, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- An adopted son of the late Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi is resisting attempts by Zimbabwean authorities to have him deported to Tripoli, Libya, citing fears for his security, state media reported Tuesday.
Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi told a Senate thematic committee on human rights on Monday that Abhallha Mone Moussa Moummare recently refused to disembark from a plane in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he was supposed to board a connecting flight to Libya.
Ziyambi was briefing senators on how the government was dealing with refugees, and addressing their living conditions in prisons, the Herald newspaper reported Tuesday.
Ziyambi told the paper that the Gaddafi's son ran away from Libya after his father was deposed and killed in 2011, and arrived in Harare in 2014.
He has since approached the High Court challenging his detention at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison and wants to be granted refugee or asylum status.
"There are some court applications challenging his detention. So we are waiting for the outcome. Initially his identity could not be ascertained definitively. Under those circumstances, it was not prudent to grant that status without ascertaining for ourselves," he said.
"So he was deported, but refused to go to Libya. He said he was more comfortable here. He was deported and while in Addis (Ababa) en-route to Libya, he refused to disembark from the plane," he said.
The committee, led by Oliver Chidawu of ruling ZANU-PF party, had expressed concern over the living conditions of inmates, including a diet of vegetables without meat for days.
They also asked why refugees were being lumped together with serving prisoners.
"We do not have refugees in prison, but prohibited immigrants. They are fined and an order for deportation is given. Some of them stay for over two years. It is a challenge really," said Ziyambi.
Ziyambi said it was not ideal to detain prohibited immigrants in prisons, but the government was doing so because there were no safe places to keep them while they awaited deportation.
