BEIRUT (AP) — A Libyan delegation in Lebanon made progress in talks Monday with judicial officials over the possible release of late Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi ‘s son, who has been jailed without trial in Lebanon for a decade.
The five-member Libyan delegation held talks over the fate of Hannibal Gadhafi with three senior judicial officials, including prosecutor Jamal Hajar, four Lebanese judicial officials told The Associated Press. They spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
Detained in Lebanon since 2015, Gadhafi is 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 3 years old at the time.
A Lebanese judge last month ordered Hannibal Gadhafi’s release on $11 million bail, but banned him from traveling outside Lebanon. His lawyers said he doesn’t have enough to pay that amount, and sought permission for him to leave the country.
During the meeting Monday with the Libyan delegation, the Lebanese judicial officials agreed to work toward sharply reducing the bail and lifting the travel ban, the four judicial officials said. The Libyan delegation also handed over a detailed report on an investigation into the missing cleric, Moussa al-Sadr, the officials said.
Libya formally requested Hannibal Gadhafi’s release in 2023, citing his deteriorating health after he went on a hunger strike to protest his detention without trial.
The Washington-based Hostage Aid Worldwide also has been advocating for years for Gadhafi’s release, raising concerns about his prolonged detention without transparent due process. In recent weeks, members of the organization have held discussions with senior Lebanese officials urging Lebanon to abide by international norms and protections against wrongful detention.
A person familiar with Hostage Aid Worldwide’s efforts told the AP that Gadhafi’s bail and travel ban are expected to be lifted, allowing him to leave Lebanon for Qatar, where he is expected to settle. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the plans.
Gadhafi had been living in exile in Syria with his Lebanese wife, Aline Skaf, and children until he was abducted in 2015 and brought to Lebanon by Lebanese militants who were demanding information about al-Sadr.
Lebanese police later announced they had seized Gadhafi from the northeastern Lebanese city of Baalbek where he was being held, and he has been held ever since in a Beirut jail, where he was faced questioning over al-Sadr’s disappearance.
The case has been a long-standing sore point in Lebanon. The cleric’s family believes he may still be alive in a Libyan prison, though most Lebanese presume he is dead. He would be 96 years old.
Al-Sadr, who went missing with companions Abbas Badreddine and Mohammed Yacoub, was the founder of a Shiite political and military group that took part in the long Lebanese civil war that began in 1975, largely pitting Muslims against Christians.
Hostage Aid Worldwide is also working with the Badreddine family in the U.S. in efforts to reach closure in the al-Sadr case.
Moammar Gadhafi was killed by opposition fighters during Libya’s 2011 uprising-turned-civil war, ending his four-decade rule of the North African country.
Hannibal Gadhafi, who was born nearly three years before al-Sadr disappeared, fled along with his mother and several other relatives to Algeria after his father was toppled and Tripoli fell to opposition fighters.
He later moved to Syria where he was given political asylum and stayed there until he was abducted.
