Lebanon releases Hannibal Gadhafi from prison on bail

BEIRUT

Lebanon released Hannibal Gadhafi, the son of deposed Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, on bail on Nov. 11 after nearly a decade in prison, his lawyer has announced.

"We left, he is free," Laurent Bayon said, hours after Gadhafi’s bail of $900,000 was paid.

The younger Gadhafi, 49, was accused of withholding information about the 1978 disappearance of Lebanese Shiite cleric Mussa Sadr in Libya but never put on trial.

He was two years old at the time of Sadr's disappearance.

In October, a judge ordered Kadhafi's release against bail set at $11 million, which was reduced to $900,000 last week after an appeal by his defense team.

Bayon said his client was set to leave Lebanon for a "confidential" destination, adding that he holds a Libyan passport.

"If Gadhafi was able to be arbitrarily detained in Lebanon for 10 years, it's because the justice system was not independent," Bayon said.

He said his client's release reflected a restoration of judicial independence under Lebanon's reformist government that was formed in January.

Mussa Sadr, the founder of the Amal movement, now an ally of militant group Hezbollah, went missing during an official visit to Libya, along with an aide and a journalist.

Beirut blamed the disappearances on then Libyan ruler Moammar Gadhafi, who was overthrown and killed decades later in a 2011 uprising.

Ties between the two countries have been strained ever since the trio went missing.

Married to Lebanese model Aline Skaf, Hannibal Gadhafş fled to Syria after the start of the Libyan uprising.

He was kidnapped in December 2015 by armed men who took him to Lebanon, where authorities released him from the kidnappers and later detained him.