After nearly a decade behind bars in Lebanon, Hannibal Gaddafi, the son of Libya’s late leader Muammar Gaddafi, was released on Monday, November 10, 2025, in a dramatic turn that brought to a close a long and often controversial chapter in Middle Eastern diplomacy. The release came following the payment of a $900,000 bail—a sum that, according to multiple Lebanese judicial sources and the Tripoli-based Libyan government, was covered by a visiting Libyan delegation (as reported by AFP, NBC News, and Lebanon’s National News Agency).
Gaddafi’s decade-long detention stemmed from accusations that he withheld information about the disappearance of Lebanese Shiite cleric Musa al-Sadr, who vanished along with two companions during an official visit to Libya in 1978. At the time of al-Sadr’s disappearance, Hannibal Gaddafi was not even three years old, a fact that has fueled criticism of the charges. As AsiaOne noted, “Hannibal was only two years old when Sadr disappeared and had held no senior official position in Libya as an adult.” Despite these circumstances, Lebanese authorities detained Gaddafi after he was abducted by militants in Syria in 2015 and subsequently handed over to Beirut.
The saga began in December 2015, when Gaddafi—then living in exile in Syria with his Lebanese wife, Aline Skaf, and their children—was kidnapped by armed men demanding information about al-Sadr. Lebanese police later announced they had seized him from the city of Baalbek, after which he was held in a Beirut jail. Over the years, Gaddafi’s detention became a flashpoint for human rights organizations, which decried the charges as “spurious” and his imprisonment as arbitrary. In 2023, Gaddafi’s health deteriorated significantly after he launched a hunger strike to protest his detention without trial, a move that prompted Libya to formally request his release.
Negotiations to resolve his case gained momentum in the fall of 2025. In October, a Lebanese judge ordered Gaddafi’s release on bail set at $11 million, but also imposed a travel ban. According to The Independent, Gaddafi’s lawyers argued that he could not afford such a steep sum and petitioned for both a reduction in bail and permission for him to leave the country. The breakthrough came last week, when Lebanese judicial authorities, following talks with a five-member Libyan delegation, agreed to lower the bail to 80 billion Lebanese pounds (about $900,000) and lift the travel ban. The Libyan delegation is reported to have paid the bail, and the Tripoli-based Justice Ministry confirmed this in a public statement.
“We left, he is free,” Gaddafi’s French lawyer Laurent Bayon told AFP on Monday, shortly after the bail was paid. “Hannibal Gaddafi will finally be free. It’s the end of a nightmare for him that lasted 10 years.” Another member of his legal team, Charbel Milad al-Khoury, echoed this sentiment, stating, “Hannibal is officially free and has the full right to choose the destination that he wants.” For security reasons, Gaddafi’s future whereabouts remain confidential, though reports surfaced that he may have requested asylum in Geneva, Switzerland—a city with its own complicated history for the Gaddafi family.
The legal and diplomatic wrangling over Gaddafi’s fate has long been entwined with the unsolved mystery of Musa al-Sadr’s disappearance, a case that continues to stir passions in both Lebanon and Libya. The Shiite Amal movement, which al-Sadr founded and which is now allied with Hezbollah, has consistently blamed the Gaddafi regime for the cleric’s disappearance. Libya, for its part, has always denied involvement. The case has strained relations between the two countries for decades. According to DPA, “The case has repeatedly strained relations between Lebanon and Libya and is still considered one of the most controversial matters in recent Lebanese history.”
In the days leading up to Gaddafi’s release, diplomatic efforts intensified. A Libyan delegation arrived in Beirut to negotiate, reportedly providing Lebanese officials with a detailed report on their own investigation into al-Sadr’s fate. The talks resulted in a significant reduction in bail and the lifting of travel restrictions, paving the way for Gaddafi’s freedom. The Libyan Government of National Unity, led by Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah, publicly thanked Lebanese President Michel Aoun and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri for their “collaboration that has led to the release of Gaddafi,” and expressed hope for renewed diplomatic relations and cooperation in the future.
For Lebanon, the episode has also become a litmus test for its judiciary. Bayon, Gaddafi’s lawyer, asserted that the release reflected a restoration of judicial independence under Lebanon’s reformist government, which was formed in January 2025. “If Gaddafi was able to be arbitrarily detained in Lebanon for 10 years, it’s because the justice system was not independent,” Bayon told AFP. “His release is a sign of change.”
Gaddafi’s defense team, meanwhile, withdrew a case they had filed against the Lebanese state in Geneva last month, a move that was part of the final settlement. The withdrawal underscored the complex, often international dimensions of the case, which had involved not only Lebanese and Libyan authorities but also Swiss officials, given Gaddafi’s earlier legal entanglements in Geneva.
Gaddafi’s personal journey since the fall of his father’s regime in 2011 has been tumultuous. After Muammar Gaddafi’s death, Hannibal and other family members fled Libya, with Hannibal eventually settling in Syria. The years since have seen him move from exile to abduction, from a Beirut jail to the center of a diplomatic standoff. His release now marks the end of one ordeal, but the fate of Musa al-Sadr—and the full truth behind his disappearance—remains unresolved, leaving a lingering shadow over Lebanese-Libyan relations.
As Gaddafi prepares to depart Lebanon for an undisclosed destination, the story of his detention and release stands as a testament to the complexities of Middle Eastern justice and diplomacy, as well as the enduring mysteries that continue to shape the region’s history.
