Tunisia Orders Ex-Libyan Prime Minister Extradited to Libya

TUNIS, Tunisia – A Tunisian appeals court on Tuesday ordered former Libyan Prime Minister Al-Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi extradited to Libya.

Al-Mahmoudi was convicted of illegally crossing into Tunisia and imprisoned there in September, but the conviction was later overturned.

Tunisian authorities have continued to hold him, however, following an extradition request from Libya.

The Tunisian government has the final say on whether to extradite al-Mahmoudi. Justice Ministry spokesman Kadhem Zine El Abidine told The Associated Press Tuesday that Tunisia's president must issue a decree to order the extradition.

Lawyers for al-Mahmoudi say he is in danger because of the many secrets he knows about Muammar Qaddafi's regime.

Mabrouk , the coordinator for the prime minister's big legal team, has said that with Qaddafi's death, al-Mahmoudi is the "sole holder" of internal Libyan secrets and "relations between Libya and certain powers."

Korchid says the 70-year-old is weak and suffers from diabetes.