Gadhafi’s son released after more than 5 years of detention
BENGHAZI, Libya — Seif al-Islam, the son and one-time heir apparent of late Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, has been released after more than five years in detention, his captors said on Saturday.
A statement by his captors, the Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Battalion, said Seif al-Islam was released a day earlier, but gave no details on his whereabouts. Battalion officials reached by The Associated Press at Zintan, a town south of the capital Tripoli where it is based, confirmed his release. They declined to disclose his whereabouts, citing concerns over his safety.
They said his release was decided as part of a recent pardon issued by the Libyan parliament based in the country’s eastern region.
Abdallah Bilhaq, a spokesman for the Tobruk-based Libyan House of Representatives, said “the amnesty law had to be issued” to help move on from the chaos that has engulfed the country in recent years.