Libya dictator’s son to run for office despite death sentence

THE son of Colonel Gaddafi is to run for president of his late father’s country.

Saif al-islam Gaddafi, once the heir apparent to his father’s regime, is wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity during the brutal efforts to put down the 2011 rebellion against Muammar Gaddafi’s rule.

But the 45-year-old’s candidacy in elections this year was announced by officials of the Libyan Popular Front in Tunis on Monday.

Human rights activist Khaled Guel told The New Arab newspaper that Libya needed to get past recent divisions. “The humanitarian situation is deteriorating and the path forward is unclear. Many Libyans now believe that the only way to save the country is through Saif al-islam,” he said.

Saif was held by a militia in the town of Zintan for six years after his father was driven from power. In 2015 he was sentenced to death in absentia by a court in Tripoli.

However, he was released in June last year, apparently after being granted amnesty by one of the country’s two competing governments.

His whereabouts are unknown but Libyan Popular Front officials said he would soon address the nation.

Col Gaddafi’s second son was seen as a reformist who helped rebuild relations with the West after 2000. The London School of Economics graduate, while reviled by many as a symbol of the old order, retains some support among his fellow citizens.