Gaddafi’s son released by Lebanese authorities after decade in detention
The son of late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has been released by Lebanese authorities after he paid a $900,000 (£683,460) bail – ending his 10-year detention for allegedly withholding information about a missing Lebanese cleric.
Hannibal Gaddafi was released on Monday evening, one of his lawyers said.
Days earlier, Lebanese authorities lifted a travel ban and reduced Hannibal’s bail, paving the way for his release.
Two security officials, speaking anonymously, also confirmed he had been set free.
Thursday’s decision by the country’s judicial authorities to lift the travel ban and reduce the bail from $11m (£8.3m) came days after a five-person Libyan delegation visited Lebanon and made progress in talks for Hannibal’s release.
Hannibal Gaddafi was detained in Lebanon in 2015 after he was accused of withholding information about the fate of a Lebanese Shiite cleric who disappeared during a trip to Libya in 1978, although the late leader’s son was less than three years old at the time.
In mid-October, a Lebanese judge ordered Hannibal’s release on $11m bail, but banned him from travelling outside Lebanon.
His lawyers said at the time that he did not have enough to pay that amount, and sought permission for him to leave the country.
Last week, Sky’s US partner NBC News reported that during the meeting Monday with the Libyan delegation, Lebanese judicial officials agreed to work toward sharply reducing the bail and lifting the travel ban.
The Libyan delegation also handed over a detailed report on an investigation into the missing cleric, Moussa al Sadr, the officials told NBC.
On Thursday, his bail was reduced to 80bn Lebanese pounds (about £678,100) and the travel ban was lifted, allowing him to leave the country once he pays the bail.
The two judicial and one security official said the bail was paid by the Libyan delegation.
The Tripoli-based government’s justice ministry also posted on its social media platforms that the Libyan delegation paid the bail.
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Muammar Gaddafi was killed by opposition fighters during an uprising that turned into a civil war in 2011, ending his four-decade rule of the North African country.
Most of his eight children had significant roles in his government – with Hannibal having a role in Libya’s maritime industry.
Along with his mother and several other relatives, Hannibal fled to Algeria after his father was toppled and Tripoli fell to opposition fighters while several of his brothers were later killed or jailed. He later moved to Syria where he was given political asylum and stayed there until he was abducted by Lebanese militants, and then seized and moved to jail by Lebanese police.
