Foreign Minister Najla Al-Manqoush has called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) not to approach any party other than her ministry or its representatives in the Netherlands.

In a letter addressed to the Libyan mission at the ICC and the Libyan Embassy in the Hague, Al-Manqoush stressed that no visits or meetings with the court would be allowed without prior approval from the Libyan Foreign Ministry.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the party concerned with following up on external cases before the ICC, Minister Al-Manqoush underscored.

She explained that her letter to the ICC comes within the framework of fulfilling Libya's international obligations, including the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution No. 1970 issued in 2011.

Media sources indicated that Al-Manqoush’s move comes in anticipation of a planned visit by the Minister of Justice Halima Al-Busifi, to the ICC HQ in the Hague on the sidelines of an upcoming trip to the Netherlands from Switzerland.

According to the sources, Al-Busifi wants to reaffirm during her tour that the Libyan judiciary has original jurisdiction to consider the cases of Libyan nationals wanted by the International Criminal Court, including Saif Gaddafi, son of the late dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was toppled and killed in 2011.