Gaddafi must be tried by ICC: Merkel

Merkel whose country would not take part in the military campaign that led to Gaddafi’s ouster did not rule out sending German troops to the north African country as part of a UN stabilisation mission.

“If we’re asked,we’ll obviously look into what we can do,” she said in the interview which will be published on Sunday.

But she added: “The new Libyan government must decide on what support it needs and I think that this is first and foremost an issue for the United Nations,the Arab League and the African Union.” Merkel said she expected Libya to set up a democratic institutions.

“In Germany alone,we froze billions of euros in assets of the Gaddafi regime. This money is there for the people and may very well be used for reconstruction.” Germany abstained in a UN Security Council vote in March which adopted Resolution 1973 that authorised the use of force to protect Libyan civilians and later would not join NATO operations in the north African country.

It was the only European Union country and NATO member to do so,drawing criticism from its allies.