Residents of the capital Tripoli questioned the timing of the release of Saadi Kadhafi, a son of Libya’s late dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was overthrown and killed in a 2011 uprising, and praise the Libyan judiciary for basing its decision on “justice and integrity”. Saadi – the strongman’s third son, now aged 47 — was known for his playboy lifestyle and briefly played as a professional footballer in Italy.

“Why were Saadi and (intelligence chief) Ahmad Ramadan released now?,” asked Abdellatif Dakdak, a fuel engineer.

“Also this talk about the body of Kadhafi, in my opinion, all of this is because of political agreements between those people who are close to the presidency,” he said.

But others supported the decision by the authorities to set Saadi free.

“What happened indicates that nothing is above the law. The judiciary reached this decision based on proof and evidence. This shows the justice and integrity of the judiciary,” said Mohammed Ali Jawaylak, a Tripoli resident.

Another of Gaddafi’s sons, Saif al Islam, was released from detention in 2017 and is rumored to be preparing a bid for the presidency.

AFP