BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanese authorities released the son of late Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi on Monday after he paid a $900,000 bail, ending his 10-year detention for allegedly withholding information about a missing Lebanese cleric, security officials and a member of his defense team said.
One of Hannibal Gadhafi’s lawyers, Charbel Milad al-Khoury, told The Associated Press that Gadhafi was released Monday evening after necessary paperwork was finished.
Two security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, also confirmed that Gadhafi was set free.
The release came days after Lebanese authorities lifted a travel ban and reduced the bail for Hannibal Gadhafi, paving the way for his release.
Thursday’s decision by the country’s judicial authorities to lift the travel ban and reduce the bail from $11 million came days after a Libyan delegation visited Lebanon and made progress in talks for the release of Gadhafi.
In mid-October, a Lebanese judge ordered Gadhafi’s release on $11 million bail, but banned him from traveling outside Lebanon. His lawyers said at the time that he didn’t have enough to pay that amount, and sought permission for him to leave the country.
On Thursday, his bail was reduced to 80 billion Lebanese pounds (about $900,000) and the travel ban was lifted allowing him to leave the country once he pays the bail.
The two judicial and one security official said the bail was paid by the Libyan delegation. The Justice Ministry of the Tripoli-based government also posted on its social media platforms that the Libyan delegation paid the bail.
