{"id":35096,"date":"2017-06-12T11:00:14","date_gmt":"2017-06-12T11:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/gaddafi-s-son-saif-freed-in-libya\/"},"modified":"2017-06-12T10:56:26","modified_gmt":"2017-06-12T10:56:26","slug":"gaddafi-s-son-saif-freed-in-libya","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/gaddafi-s-son-saif-freed-in-libya\/","title":{"rendered":"Gaddafi’s son Saif freed in Libya"},"content":{"rendered":"

{Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, second son of the late deposed Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi, has been freed from jail under an amnesty law.}<\/p>\n

His father’s preferred successor, he had been held by a militia in the town of Zintan for the past six years.<\/p>\n

The Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Battalion said he had been released on Friday but he has not been seen in public.<\/p>\n

It is feared the move could fuel further instability in Libya.<\/p>\n

His lawyer, Khaled al-Zaidi, confirmed he had been released.<\/p>\n

He declined to say which city Saif al-Islam had travelled to for security reasons. A source has told the BBC he is in the Tobruk area of eastern Libya.<\/p>\n

The Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Battalion said it was acting on a request from the “interim government” based in the east of the country.<\/p>\n

However, he has been sentenced to death in absentia by a court in Tripoli, in the west of the country, where control is in the hands of the rival, UN-backed Government of National Accord.<\/p>\n

Saif al-Islam is wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity during his father’s unsuccessful attempts to put down the rebellion against his rule.<\/p>\n

The Zintan Military Council – which had previously been involved in his detention – and Zintan’s municipal council have condemned his release by the Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Battalion.<\/p>\n

The councils said in a statement that freeing Saif al-Islam was “a form of collusion, a betrayal of the blood of the martyrs and stab in the back of the military body to which they [the brigade] claim to belong”.<\/p>\n

Another unpredictable element: analysis by Orla Guerin, BBC News, Tripoli
\nThe release of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi will add another unpredictable element to Libya’s unstable mix.<\/p>\n

He was detained in the desert in November 2011 trying to flee to Niger, and later appeared missing several fingers.<\/p>\n

The former playboy often appeared in the West as the public face of the Gaddafi regime and was his father’s heir-apparent.<\/p>\n

While reviled by many – at home and abroad – he retains some support in Libya and could try to re-enter the political fray here.<\/p>\n

The 44-year-old Saif al-Islam – who was controversially granted a PhD by the London School of Economics in 2008 – was captured in November 2011 after three months on the run following the end of Muammar Gaddafi’s decades-long rule.<\/p>\n

He was previously known for playing a key role in building relations with the West after 2000, and had been considered the reformist face of his father’s regime.<\/p>\n

But after the 2011 uprising, he found himself accused of incitement to violence and murdering protesters.<\/p>\n

Four years later, he was sentenced to death by firing squad following a trial involving 30 of Gaddafi’s close associates.<\/p>\n

Reaction on social media to Saif al-Islam’s release has been mixed.<\/p>\n

One Twitter user said: “When the world is upside down, the killer becomes innocent and the victim becomes a terrorist. The blood of the martyrs disappears and Saif al-Islam becomes a free man!”<\/p>\n

By contrast, another Twitter user posted a video showing celebrations of Saif al-Islam’s release in the north-western town of Asabea, in which people appeared be carrying the green flags associated with his father’s rule. He was also described as a “lifeline to the Libyan people”.<\/p>\n

{{Saif al-Islam: Heir to prisoner}}<\/p>\n

June 1972: Born in Tripoli, Libya, second son of Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi<\/p>\n

February 2011: Uprising against Gaddafi government begins<\/p>\n

June 2011: International Criminal Court issues an arrest warrant for Saif al-Islam for crimes against humanity<\/p>\n

August 2011: Leaves the capital after Tripoli falls to anti-government forces; flees to Bani Walid<\/p>\n

October 2011: Father and younger brother killed<\/p>\n

19 November 2011: Captured by militia as he tries to flee south to Niger. Imprisoned in Zintan<\/p>\n

July 2015: Sentenced to death by a Tripoli court in absentia<\/p>\n

June 2017: Reportedly released after being granted amnesty by one of Libya’s two competing governments<\/p>\n

\"Saif<\/figure>\n

Source:BBC <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

{Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, second son of the late deposed Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi, has been freed from jail under an amnesty law.} His father’s preferred successor, he had been held by a militia in the town of Zintan for the past six years. The Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Battalion said he had been released on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[100],"byline":[249],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-35096","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-africa","byline-bbc"],"bylines":[{"id":249,"name":"BBC","slug":"bbc","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":104}],"contributors":[{"id":249,"name":"BBC","slug":"bbc","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":104}],"featured_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35096","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35096"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35096\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35096"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=35096"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=35096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}