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Hannibal Gadhafi, son of Libya's former dictator Moammar Gadhafi, walked free from a Lebanese prison Monday after his lawyers posted $893,000 bail, ending a nearly decade-long detention that had strained relations between the two nations.
The 49-year-old had been held in Beirut since December 2015 in connection with the 1978 disappearance of a prominent Shiite cleric, though he was never formally charged or brought to trial. He was two years old when the cleric vanished.
Lebanese judge Zahir Hammade approved Gadhafi's release last week after slashing his bail from $11 million to approximately $900,000. The judge also lifted a travel ban, clearing the way for Gadhafi to leave Lebanese territory once the payment was processed.
"Hannibal Gadhafi will finally be free. It's the end of a nightmare for him that lasted 10 years," his attorney Laurent Bayon said Monday, according to Agence France-Presse.
The case centers on Musa al-Sadr, a Lebanese Shiite religious scholar who disappeared during an official visit to Libya in 1978, along with two companions. Lebanon's Shiite community and the Amal Movement have long blamed the Gadhafi regime for the trio's fate. Libya's former government denied the accusations, maintaining that al-Sadr and his party left Tripoli for Italy.
Gadhafi was abducted by unidentified gunmen in Syria in December 2015 and transported to Lebanon, where he was detained. He had fled to Syria after the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed his father.
Libya's Government of National Unity expressed gratitude to Lebanon's president and parliament speaker for their cooperation in securing Gadhafi's release. In a statement, the government said the move reflected "the historic ties that bind the Libyan and Lebanese people" and credited its diplomatic efforts with protecting the dignity of Libyan citizens.
Born in 1975, Gadhafi is married to Lebanese former model Aline el-Skaf, with whom he has two children. His lawyer said he would leave Lebanon for an undisclosed destination using a Libyan passport.
Bayon attributed his client's release to restored judicial independence under Lebanon's reformist government, which took office in January. "If Gadhafi was able to be arbitrarily detained in Lebanon for 10 years, it's because the justice system was not independent," he said.
Lebanon's official news agency NNA confirmed the bail payment and release procedures were completed Monday morning.
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