Libya Asks Lebanon to Release Gaddafi's Son

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Facts

  • Libya’s judicial officials formally asked Lebanon on Monday to release one of Muammar Gaddafi’s sons, Hannibal Gaddafi, due to health complications following a hunger strike he has been on since June 3.1
  • Hannibal Gaddafi, who was abducted from his residence during exile in Syria and brought to Lebanon in 2015, has since been held without charges. Libyan authorities have questioned Gaddafi's detention, and have asked that he be either handed over to Libya or be allowed to return to his Lebanese wife, Aline Skaf, and children in Syria.2
  • Gaddafi has been on a hunger strike to protest his detention without due process. He has been taken to the hospital at least twice.3
  • It was claimed that Lebanon's cooperation may also shed light on Lebanese Shia leader, Moussa al-Sadr, who went missing in Libya in 1978.2
  • The Lebanese Shiite cleric al-Sadr founded the Amal organization which fought in Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil conflict. His family believes he may still be alive in a Libyan prison — however, most Lebanese presume al-Sadr is dead. He would be 94 years old.3

Sources: 1Al Jazeera, 2ABC News, and 3Arab News.

Narratives

  • Narrative A, as provided by Al Jazeera. Hannibal Gaddafi has been held without a trial since 2015 in connection with the disappearance of a Lebanese warlord in 1978 when Hannibal was merely three years old. One can't suggest that Lebanese authorities believe that a toddler could know anything about the imam's whereabouts; Hannibal's punishment is simply because he is the son of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Lebanon cannot keep innocent people in prison.
  • Narrative B, as provided by The National. The fate of Hannibal Gaddafi, son of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, is in fact linked to that of Lebanese cleric Musa al-Sadr. Many in Lebanon believe that Muammar Gaddafi was responsible for Sadr's disappearance. According to sources, Sadr was alive at least 15 to 20 years after his disappearance. This is why the Lebanese authorities genuinely believe Hannibal could hold crucial information that could end four decades of speculation and conspiracy theories over Sadr’s whereabouts.