Muammar Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam without a doubt would get a death sentence if tried in Libya, his lawyer told the Hague-based International Criminal Court yesterday.

"Although the Libyan government has danced around the issue, let's be very clear: if convicted (in Libya) Mr Gaddafi will be hanged," Melinda Taylor, a court-appointed lawyer, told judges amid a dispute on where Saif should face justice.

While the ICC wants Saif, the only son of the slain Libyan leader in custody, to be tried in The Hague, Libya's postrevolutionary authorities insist he should stand trial in his home country.