Lebanon frees Gaddafi's youngest son after a decade in detention

Lebanese authorities have released Hannibal Gaddafi, the youngest son of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, after nearly ten years in detention without trial. Gaddafi, now 49, was arrested in 2015 and accused of withholding information about the disappearance of Lebanese Shia cleric Musa al-Sadr, who vanished in Libya in 1978. At the time of the cleric’s disappearance, Gaddafi was only two years old. Human rights organizations had repeatedly condemned his detention, calling the accusations baseless and politically motivated. His lawyer, Laurent Bayon, told AFP that a bail of $900,000 (£6

Lebanese authorities have released Hannibal Gaddafi, the youngest son of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, after nearly ten years in detention without trial. Gaddafi, now 49, was arrested in 2015 and accused of withholding information about the disappearance of Lebanese Shia cleric Musa al-Sadr, who vanished in Libya in 1978. At the time of the cleric’s disappearance, Gaddafi was only two years old. Human rights organizations had repeatedly condemned his detention, calling the accusations baseless and politically motivated. His lawyer, Laurent Bayon, told AFP that a bail of $900,000 (£682,938) had been paid for his release, describing it as “the end of a nightmare that lasted 10 years.” According to AFP, a Lebanese judge had initially set bail at $11 million in October, but the amount was reduced following an appeal by Gaddafi’s defense team. Bayon said his client will leave Lebanon for an undisclosed destination. “If Gaddafi could be arbitrarily detained in Lebanon for ten years, it is because the justice system is not independent,” Bayon said. In 2015, Gaddafi was briefly abducted by an armed group in Lebanon before being taken into custody by Lebanese authorities. Following his father’s overthrow and death in 2011, Gaddafi fled to Syria and later lived under house arrest in Oman with his wife, Aline Skaf. Before the fall of his father’s regime, he was known for his lavish lifestyle. The disappearance of cleric Musa al-Sadr has long strained relations between Lebanon and Libya. Gaddafi, who never held an official position in Libya’s government, has denied any involvement in the case.