After nearly a decade spent behind bars in Lebanon, Hannibal Gaddafi, the son of Libya’s late ruler Muammar Gaddafi, has been ordered released on bail—if he can come up with a staggering $11 million. The decision, announced on Friday, October 17, 2025, by Lebanese judicial authorities, marks a dramatic turn in a case that has strained relations between Lebanon and Libya for decades and kept Gaddafi at the center of an enduring Middle Eastern mystery.
Gaddafi’s imprisonment traces back to 2015, when he was abducted by Lebanese militants. Their demand? Information about the fate of Moussa al-Sadr, a revered Lebanese Shiite cleric who vanished during a 1978 visit to Libya. Al-Sadr’s disappearance remains one of Lebanon’s most painful historical wounds—his family still believes he could be alive in a Libyan prison, though most in Lebanon presume he died long ago. If alive, al-Sadr would be 96 years old today, according to Devdiscourse.
After his abduction, Gaddafi was found by Lebanese police in Baalbek, a city in northeastern Lebanon, and subsequently transferred to a jail in Beirut. There, he languished for almost ten years—without ever being formally charged, as reported by Devdiscourse and AFP. The accusations against him centered on allegedly withholding information about al-Sadr’s fate, but Gaddafi was only a child when the cleric disappeared. The case has become a long-standing sore point in Lebanese-Libyan relations, with Beirut blaming Muammar Gaddafi’s regime for the cleric’s disappearance, and Libya’s post-revolution government denying any involvement or lack of cooperation.
The latest twist came when Judge Zaher Hamadeh, after questioning Gaddafi at the Justice Palace in Beirut, ordered his release on the condition of a mammoth bail payment and a two-month travel ban. The judicial official who spoke to AFP requested anonymity, underscoring the sensitivity of the case. Yet, the prospect of Gaddafi walking free seems remote—his lawyers say there’s no way he can pay.
“Where do you want him to find $11 million?” asked Laurent Bayon, one of Gaddafi’s legal representatives, in comments to AFP. Bayon argued that the bail was “totally unacceptable in a case of arbitrary detention,” and vowed to challenge the decision in court. He also highlighted that Gaddafi is subject to international sanctions, making access to such a sum virtually impossible. Charbel Milad al-Khoury, another lawyer for Gaddafi, echoed these concerns to The Associated Press, stating bluntly that Gaddafi “does not have the money and does not have access to accounts in order to pay the bail.”
For Gaddafi, the ordeal has taken a severe toll. Over the past year, his health has reportedly deteriorated. In 2023, the Libyan government formally requested his release, citing his declining condition after he went on a hunger strike to protest his prolonged detention. According to Bayon, Gaddafi suffers from severe depression and was recently hospitalized for abdominal pain. In August 2025, Human Rights Watch weighed in, urging Lebanese authorities to release Gaddafi, calling his imprisonment “wrong” and based on “apparently unsubstantiated allegations that he was withholding information” about al-Sadr’s fate.
The story of Moussa al-Sadr is itself a tangle of intrigue and heartbreak. As the founder of the Amal movement—now closely allied with Hezbollah—al-Sadr was a towering figure in Lebanon’s Shiite community. His disappearance, alongside an aide and a journalist, during an official visit to Libya in 1978, has haunted Lebanese politics ever since. Parliament speaker Nabih Berri, who succeeded al-Sadr as leader of Amal, has repeatedly accused Libya’s new authorities of failing to cooperate in the search for answers—a charge Libyan officials deny.
Hannibal Gaddafi’s own journey has been equally dramatic. Married to a Lebanese model, he fled to Syria after his father’s regime collapsed in 2011. But his attempt at a new life was cut short in December 2015, when armed men kidnapped him and brought him to Lebanon. There, he became a pawn in the unresolved saga of al-Sadr, his fate inextricably tied to a mystery that predates his adulthood.
Adding a layer of complexity, Gaddafi recently admitted to possessing an altered photo of Nabih Berri, according to LBCI. He also claimed his arrest “served certain interests,” hinting at the political undercurrents that have swirled around his case from day one.
For many observers, the bail decision appears to be a compromise—one that acknowledges growing international pressure, including from human rights organizations, but still reflects the unresolved anger and suspicion surrounding al-Sadr’s disappearance. The $11 million bail is, in practice, an almost insurmountable barrier, especially given Gaddafi’s frozen assets and sanctions. As Bayon put it, “release on bail is totally unacceptable in a case of arbitrary detention.”
Meanwhile, the Sadr case continues to cast a shadow over Lebanese-Libyan relations. The missing cleric’s family and supporters have never given up hope, and every development—no matter how small—reignites the debate over what really happened in 1978. For Lebanon’s Shiite community, al-Sadr’s absence remains a wound that refuses to heal. For Libya, the case is a lingering legacy of the Gaddafi era, complicating efforts to build new diplomatic bridges in the post-revolution period.
As the legal wrangling continues, one thing is clear: Hannibal Gaddafi’s fate is far from settled. His lawyers are preparing to challenge the bail requirement, arguing that it amounts to continued arbitrary detention. Human Rights Watch and other advocacy groups are likely to keep up the pressure, calling for a resolution that respects due process and human rights. Yet, unless something dramatic changes, Gaddafi is unlikely to walk free anytime soon—at least not without the $11 million that no one seems able, or willing, to provide.
For now, the saga remains a potent reminder of how the past can reach out and shape the present, trapping individuals in the unresolved conflicts of another era. The world will be watching to see if Lebanon and Libya can finally turn the page on this decades-old mystery—or if the story of Hannibal Gaddafi and Moussa al-Sadr will continue to haunt both nations for years to come.
