Did rebels cut off Saif Gaddafi's fingers in revenge?

SAIF GADDAFI'S fingers might have been cut off by Libyans who briefly captured him after the Nato airstrike in Sirte which led to the capture and death of his father, a doctor has said.

Saif, the son of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, is being held in the Libyan town of Zintan after being captured as he attempted to flee across the border to Niger dressed as a camel herder. In pictures, there are clearly bandages around the thumb, index finger and middle finger of his right hand.

Gaddafi claims his hand was injured when Nato planes bombed a convoy carrying him and his father in the Nato airstrike outside of Sirte.

But according to the Daily Mail, there is a rumour among Libyan soldiers that Saif was briefly captured before escaping and that during his captivity his fingers were sliced off as punishment for his habit of appearing on camera during the uprising, wagging his digits and denouncing the rebels as "rats".  

Dr Andrey Murkhovsky, who treated Saif following his capture at the weekend, said the top halves of his index finger and thumb were missing and that his hand was a "mess".

He said: "It could be from a bomb blast. But it was strange because I would think there would be other marks on his body, but there were not."

Soldiers from Zintan have also been accused of cutting off Saif's fingers, but they deny responsibility. In a video seen by The Daily Telegraph, the head of the Zintan civilian council, Taher al-Tourki said: "I have received a lot of calls saying we cut his fingers off. It is not true but no one believes us."

Meanwhile, the head of the military council in Zintan appears intent on pushing for the death penalty when Said comes to trial. Asked if he wanted to see Gaddafi's son executed, Osama Jueili said: "Whatever the law allows." ·