A Libyan court yesterday sentenced Muammar Gaddafi's most prominent son, Saif al-Islam, and eight others to death for war crimes including killings of protesters during the 2011 revolution that ended his father's rule. The former Gaddafi regime officials sentenced to die by firing squad included former intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi and former prime minister Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi, Sadiq al-Sur, the chief investigator at the Tripoli state prosecutor's office said.The trial outcome drew swift criticism abroad, with Human Rights Watch and a prominent international lawyer saying it was riddled with legal flaws and was carried out amid lawlessness that undermined the credibility of the Libyan judiciary.Eight former officials received life sentences and seven jail terms of 12 years each and four of the 37 defendants were acquitted, Sadiq said.The verdict on Saif al-Islam was passed in absentia in Tripoli since he has been held since 2011 by a former rebel group in the mountainous Zintan region beyond central government control.He appeared by video link only at the start of the trial.The Zintanis have refused to hand him over, saying they do not trust authorities in Tripoli to make sure he does not escape, but agreed to let him be tried there.The sentences can be appealed and must be confirmed by Libya's supreme court. ..