Gaddafi’s son released by his captors

Saif al-islam, the son and one-time heir apparent of late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, has been released after more than five years in detention, his captors said.

Battalion officials at Zintan, a town south of the capital Tripoli, 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. Gaddafi’s son was captured by the battalion’s fighters late in 2011, the year when an uprising toppled and killed Gaddafi after more than 40 years in power.