Beirut
Associated Press
—
Lebanese authorities released the son of late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi on Monday after posting $900,000 bail, ending his 10-year detention on suspicion of concealing information about a missing Lebanese cleric, security officials and members of his defense team said.
Sharbel Milad al-Khoury, one of Hannibal Gaddafi’s lawyers, told The Associated Press that Gaddafi was released on Monday night after completing the necessary paperwork. Two security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity in accordance with regulations, also confirmed that Gaddafi had been released.
“Hannibal is now officially a free man and has full rights to choose his desired destination,” al-Khoury said. He declined to provide further details about Gaddafi’s future moves, citing security concerns.
The release came days after Lebanese authorities lifted a travel ban on Hannibal Gaddafi and reduced his bail, paving the way for his release.
Thursday’s decision by the country’s judiciary to lift the travel ban and reduce bail from $11 million came days after a Libyan delegation visited Lebanon and made progress in negotiations for Gaddafi’s release.
In mid-October, a Lebanese judge ordered Gaddafi released on $11 million bail, but barred him from traveling outside Lebanon. His lawyer said at the time that he did not have enough funds to pay the amount and asked for permission to leave the country.
On Thursday, his bail was reduced to 80 billion Lebanese pounds (about $900,000) and a travel ban was lifted, allowing him to leave the country once he posts bail.
Two judicial officials and a security official said the bail was paid by the Libyan delegation. The Tripoli-based government’s Ministry of Justice also posted on social media platforms that the Libyan delegation had posted bail.
Gaddafi’s lawyers have dropped a lawsuit they filed in Geneva last month against the Lebanese state for detaining him without trial, Beirut judicial officials said.
Libya officially requested the release of Hannibal Gaddafi in 2023, citing his deteriorating health after going on a hunger strike to protest his detention without trial.
Gaddafi, who was captured in Lebanon in 2015, was accused of concealing information about the fate of Lebanese Shiite cleric Musa al-Sadr, who disappeared during a trip to Libya in 1978, when the late leader’s son was less than three years old at the time.
Gaddafi lived in exile in Syria with his Lebanese wife Aline Skaf and their children until he was abducted and brought to Lebanon in 2015 by Lebanese militants demanding information about al-Sadr.
Lebanese police later said they had captured Gaddafi from the northeastern Lebanese city of Baalbek, where he has been held since then in a Beirut prison, where he was facing an investigation into al-Sadr’s disappearance.
The incident has been a long-standing problem for Lebanon. The cleric’s family believes he may still be alive in a Libyan prison, but most Lebanese believe he is dead. He will be 96 years old.
Al-Sadr, who disappeared along with his companions Abbas Badreddine and Mohammed Yacoub, was the founder of a Shiite political-military group that took part in Lebanon’s long civil war, which began in 1975 and pitted mainly Muslims against Christians.
Muammar Gaddafi was killed by rebel fighters during Libya’s 2011 uprising that turned into civil war, ending his 40-year rule in the North African country.
Born nearly three years before al-Sadr disappeared, Hannibal Gaddafi fled to Algeria with his mother and several other relatives after his father was overthrown and Tripoli fell to rebels. He then moved to Syria, where he was granted political asylum and remained there until his abduction.
Muammar Gaddafi had eight children from two marriages. Most of them played important roles in his government. At the same time that the leader was captured and killed, his son Mu’atasim was also killed. Two other sons, Saif al-Arab and Khamis, were also killed in the uprising.
Saif al-Islam, his father’s sole successor, has been in Libya since his release from detention in 2017. Gaddafi’s son Muhammad and daughter Aisha live in Oman. Former soccer player Al Saadi was imprisoned after returning from Niger in 2014, was released from a Libyan prison in 2021, and is now believed to be living in Turkey.
