Gaddafi’s son ‘freed after five years’

Seif al-Islam, the second son and heir apparent of the late deposed Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, is said to have been freed in Libya after more than five years in captivity.

The Abu Bakr al-Sadiq Brigade, a militia that controls the town of Zintan in western Libya, said Seif al-Islam was freed late on Friday, under an amnesty law promulgated by the parliament based in the country’s east during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

“He is now free and has left the city of Zintan,” the group said on its Facebook page.

There was no independent confirmation of Seif al-Islam’s release, which could spark further instability in a country already wracked by divisions and violence.

Seif al-Islam had been held in Zintan since November 2011, just days after his father was killed in an uprising against his decades-long rule.

The Zintan militia, which opposes Libya’s UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) based in the capital, had refused to hand him over to authorities despite several legal cases. Among them was an arrest warrant for Seif al-Islam issued by the International Criminal Court in The Hague for alleged crimes against humanity related to the bloody repression of the uprising.

Previous reports of release have proven false.

It was unclear why the Zintan group may have decided to release Seif al-Islam now or what he may be planning.

His mother and some of his siblings fled to Algeria and eventually settled in Oman.

His release comes with the country still rocked by infighting, with authorities in the east, reportedly allied with the forces of powerful strongman Khalifa Haftar, refusing to recognise the Tripoli-based GNA.

Some in the country have even started yearning for the Gaddafi years, when the oil-rich country was ruled by a deeply repressive regime but was also stable.