Gaddafi’s son Saif freed in Libya, whereabouts unclear - lawyer

BENGHAZI, Libya, (Reuters) - Saif al-Islam Gaddafi has been freed by an armed group in western Libya where he had been held since shortly after the 2011 revolt against his late father, Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, one of his lawyers and the brigade involved said.

He was released in the town of Zintan under an amnesty law passed by a parliament based in eastern Libya, lawyer Khaled al-Zaidi said on Sunday, adding that Saif was headed to another Libyan city that he could not name for security reasons.

Saif, 44, is the most prominent of the late leader’s children, and was touted by some as a reformist successor before the uprising six years ago in which Muammar Gaddafi was toppled and killed.

It is unclear what, if any, role the younger Gaddafi could play in Libya, where a complex array of armed groups and competing governments are vying for control.

But Gaddafi loyalists outside Libya as well as some in the east of the country, where military commander Khalifa Haftar has been building power, have been pressing for Saif’s release amid a push from former regime figures to reassert influence.

Saif’s lawyer Zaidi said Saif could play an important part in national reconciliation efforts because he was popular in Libya: “He will play a pivotal and detailed role in this stage.”

Zaidi told Reuters in an interview in Cairo that Saif would make a statement at some point and would not be turning himself in to the International Criminal Court, which is seeking his arrest.

Earlier reports that Saif had been freed from Zintan turned out to be false and there have long been conflicting rumours about his status. No physical evidence of his whereabouts has been offered. Saif was last seen by an independent international observer in June 2014.