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Gadhafi's Son Released after 5 Years in Captivity

by Associated Press

   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 Saturday.

   A statement by his captors, the Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Battalion, said Seif
   al-Islam was released Friday, 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.

   The parliament in the city of Tobruk is part of one of three rival
   administrations in Libya, evidence of the chaos that has prevailed in
   the country since Gadhafi's ouster and death.

   A Tripoli court sentenced Saif al-Islam to death in 2015 for war
   crimes, including killing protesters during the revolution.

   Zintan, which grew powerful through its role in the 2011 uprising and
   has been at odds with authorities in Tripoli, had refused to hand him
   over.

   Gadhafi's son was captured by the battalion's fighters late in 2011,
   the year a popular uprising toppled Gadhafi after more than 40 years in
   power. He was later killed.

   The uprising later plunged the oil-rich North African nation into a
   ruinous civil war in which Seif al-Islam led Gadhafi's loyalist forces
   against the rebels.