Former Libyan intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi’s daughter has been abducted after leaving a prison in the country's capital, Tripoli.

Heavily armed unknown gunmen attacked police escorting Anoud Abdullah al-Senussi from al-Rayoumi prison where she had been imprisoned, before abducting the former spy chief’s daughter.

According to Justice Minister Salah al-Marghani, al-Senussi’s daughter had finished serving a 10-month jail sentence for entering the country illegally with a forged passport last year.

"The convoy was ambushed by five vehicles. [The gunmen] were armed to the teeth and started firing their weapons, but it quickly became clear that they wanted to take her. No-one was injured.”


Reports say al-Senussi was arrested after reportedly entering Libya illegally in October 2012, in order to visit her imprisoned father.

The North African country’s former spy chief is currently in prison for crimes carried out during the 2011 Libyan revolution.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has also accused al-Senussi of committing crimes against humanity during the uprising, which led to the ouster and assassination of Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi.

Last week, the Libyan prosecutor Abdel-Qader Radwan announced that the son of the country’s former leader, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, and the former spy chief are to stand trial on September 19.

Charges brought against them include murder, forming armed groups in violation of the law, inciting rape and kidnappings over the past four decades and during the revolution.

Libyans rose up against Muammar Gaddafi’s four-decade rule in February 2011 and deposed him in August 2011. He was killed on October 20 of the same year.