By Brian Kiprono - Reporter
11 November 2025 - Lebanese authorities have released Hannibal Gaddafi, the son of late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, after nearly ten years in detention. His release followed the payment of about $900,000 in bail, according to Lebanese judicial and security officials.
One of his lawyers, Charbel Milad al-Khoury, confirmed on Monday evening that Gaddafi had been freed once all legal paperwork was completed. “Hannibal is officially free and has the full right to choose where he wants to go,” al-Khoury said, adding that the family would not share details about his next destination for security reasons.
The release came just days after Lebanon’s judiciary lowered his bail from $11 million to $900,000 and lifted a long-standing travel ban. The bail was reportedly paid by a Libyan delegation visiting Beirut, representing the Tripoli-based government, which had repeatedly appealed for Gaddafi’s freedom.
Hannibal Gaddafi had been detained in Lebanon since 2015. Authorities accused him of hiding information about the disappearance of prominent Lebanese Shiite cleric Moussa al-Sadr, who vanished during a visit to Libya in 1978. At that time, Hannibal was less than three years old. The case has remained one of Lebanon’s most sensitive political mysteries for decades, with al-Sadr’s followers insisting he might still be alive, though many believe he was killed during the Gaddafi regime.
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Before his arrest, Hannibal lived in Syria with his Lebanese wife, Aline Skaf, and their children. He was reportedly kidnapped by armed militants in 2015, taken to Lebanon, and handed over to authorities in the city of Baalbek. Since then, he had been detained in Beirut, often pleading for his release due to poor health and lack of trial.
Libya’s government had pushed for his freedom since 2023, citing humanitarian grounds after Gaddafi went on a hunger strike to protest his long detention. His legal team also withdrew a complaint they had filed in Geneva against the Lebanese state, signaling a diplomatic resolution between Beirut and Tripoli.
Political observers see Gaddafi’s release as a potential step toward easing long-standing tensions between Lebanon and Libya, rooted in the unresolved mystery of Imam al-Sadr’s disappearance.
