Israeli model aims to save ex-boyfriend, Gaddafi's son

Orly Weinerman, last-known girlfriend of Saif Gaddafi, asks former British PM to save him from death penalty in Libya

News agencies|Published: 09.03.12 , 22:49

Saif Gaddafi, the second son of late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who is on trial in Libya for his role in the killing of protesters during last year’s uprising against his father, may face the death penalty.

Human rights groups fear that he will not face a fair trial and efforts to extradite him to the International Criminal Court in the Hague have not been successful.

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Now Orly Weinerman, a 41-year-old Israeli model and actress who was Gaddafi's girlfriend for six years after meeting him in London in 2005, has called on Tony Blair to make Saif’s accusers "see reason."

She said: "Saif worked closely with Mr. Blair before he was captured. 'The two are old friends – it is time that Mr Blair returned some loyalty. 'Mr Blair is a man of God – as a Christian he has a moral duty to help a friend in need.'"

Documents found during the Lybian uprising support the claim that Balir and Said Gaddafi were closely linked.

A letter written by Mr. Blair in 2007 offered suggestions to assist with Saif’s PhD, at the London School of Economics.

When his father ruled Libya, Saif played a key role in dealings with the West, and in particular with Mr. Blair, who met Colonel Gaddafi in the infamous ‘Deal in the Desert’ in 2004 to bring Libya in from the cold.

Weinerman added: "You should just ask Mr Blair what a serious, honorable person he is. The ICC has let him down, and so has the international community. Killing him will achieve absolutely nothing, beyond punishing him for who his father was. Absolutely everything must be done to save him."

Weinerman said her "discreet relationship" with Saif al-Islam – whose name means "Sword of Islam" – started in April 2005 when they were introduced via mutual friends.

It was problematic from the get go because she is Jewish, a fact that caused complications in an Islamic country such as Libya.

Her parents, she said were against her converting to Islam, and her relationship with Saif came under a lot of criticism in the Israeli press.

"It was something we had to deal with,’ said Miss Weinerman, who is now based in Tel Aviv. The fact that Saif was prepared to involve himself in a loving relationship with a Jew is a measure of how open and civilized he is."