Lebanon freed Hannibal Gadhafi after a Libyan delegation paid 80 billion Lebanese pounds (about $900,000) in reduced bail, ending roughly 10 years of detention. Judges had earlier set bail at $11 million and imposed a travel ban, which was later lifted. Lebanese officials say the Libyan delegation posted the reduced bail and Gadhafi’s lawyers withdrew a Geneva complaint challenging his long pretrial detention. The detention related to the 1978 disappearance of cleric Moussa al‑Sadr; Libya had sought his release in 2023, citing health concerns after a hunger strike.
Hannibal Gadhafi Released by Lebanon After 10 Years as Libyan Delegation Pays $900,000 Bail
Lebanon freed Hannibal Gadhafi after a Libyan delegation paid 80 billion Lebanese pounds (about $900,000) in reduced bail, ending roughly 10 years of detention. Judges had earlier set bail at $11 million and imposed a travel ban, which was later lifted. Lebanese officials say the Libyan delegation posted the reduced bail and Gadhafi’s lawyers withdrew a Geneva complaint challenging his long pretrial detention. The detention related to the 1978 disappearance of cleric Moussa al‑Sadr; Libya had sought his release in 2023, citing health concerns after a hunger strike.
07:16 AM, 11/11/2025Politics
Hannibal Gadhafi released after a decade in custody
Lebanese authorities freed Hannibal Gadhafi on Monday after a Libyan delegation paid a reduced bail of 80 billion Lebanese pounds (about $900,000), ending roughly 10 years of detention during which he was accused of withholding information about the disappearance of Lebanese cleric Moussa al-Sadr.
Charbel Milad al-Khoury, one of Hannibal Gadhafi’s lawyers, told the Associated Press that Gadhafi was released Monday evening once the necessary paperwork was completed. Two security officials, speaking anonymously under regulations, also confirmed his release.
Judicial changes paved the way for release. Earlier this month a Lebanese judge had ordered Gadhafi’s release on $11 million bail while imposing a travel ban. This week judges reduced the bail to the equivalent of about $900,000 and lifted the travel restriction, making his departure possible after the bail was posted.
Two judicial officials and a security official said the reduced bail was paid by the Libyan delegation. The Tripoli-based Libyan Justice Ministry also posted on its social media accounts that its delegation provided the funds. Beirut judicial officials said Gadhafi’s defense team withdrew a complaint they had filed in Geneva challenging his extended pretrial detention.
Gadhafi, who was seized in Lebanon in 2015, had been accused of withholding information about the 1978 disappearance of Shiite cleric Moussa al-Sadr, who vanished during a trip to Libya along with companions Abbas Badreddine and Mohammed Yacoub. Hannibal was less than three years old at the time of that disappearance.
The case has long been politically sensitive in Lebanon. Al-Sadr’s family says they still hope he may be alive and possibly detained in Libya, though most Lebanese presume he died decades ago; he would be about 96 years old today.
Libya formally requested Hannibal Gadhafi’s release in 2023, citing concerns about his deteriorating health after he staged a hunger strike in protest of being held without trial. Before his abduction, Hannibal had lived in exile in Syria with his Lebanese wife, Aline Skaf, and their children; he was reportedly taken by Lebanese militants in 2015 and later seized by Lebanese police in the northeastern city of Baalbek.
Context on the Gadhafi family: Hannibal is a son of longtime Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed in 2011 when his regime fell. Several Gadhafi children have had prominent roles or faced violent ends during and after the uprising: Muatassim, Saif al-Arab and Khamis were killed in 2011; Saif al-Islam was released in Libya in 2017; Mohammed and Aisha live in Oman; Al-Saadi was released in Libya in 2021 and is believed to be in Turkey.
Details about Hannibal Gadhafi’s immediate plans after release remain limited. His lawyer said he is free to choose his destination but declined to provide further specifics for security reasons.