Libya Demands Improvements after Leaked Photos Show Tiny Cell of Moammar Gadhafi's Son in Beirut

Hannibal Gaddafi. (EPA)
Hannibal Gaddafi. (EPA)
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Libya Demands Improvements after Leaked Photos Show Tiny Cell of Moammar Gadhafi's Son in Beirut

Hannibal Gaddafi. (EPA)
Hannibal Gaddafi. (EPA)

Leaked photographs of the son of Libya’s late Moammar Gadhafi and the tiny underground cell where he has been held for years in Lebanon have raised concerns in the north African nation as Libyan authorities demand improvements.
The photos showed a room without natural light packed with Hannibal Gadhafi’s belongings, a bed and a tiny toilet. “I live in misery,” local Al-Jadeed TV quoted the detainee as saying in a Saturday evening broadcast, adding that he is a political prisoner in a case he has no information about.
Two Lebanese judicial officials confirmed to The Associated Press on Monday that the photographs aired by Al-Jadeed are of Gadhafi and the cell where he has been held for years at police headquarters in Beirut. Gadhafi appeared healthy, with a light beard and glasses.
A person who is usually in contact with Gadhafi, a Libyan citizen, said the photos were taken in recent days. All spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media outlets.
Gadhafi has been held in Lebanon since 2015 after he was kidnapped from neighboring Syria, where he had been living as a political refugee. He was abducted by Lebanese militants demanding information about the fate of prominent Lebanese Shiite cleric Moussa al-Sadr, who went missing during a trip to Libya in 1978.
The fate of al-Sadr has been a sore point in Lebanon. His family believes he may still be alive in a Libyan prison, though most Lebanese presume al-Sadr, who would be 95 now, is dead.
A Libyan delegation visited Beirut in January to reopen talks with Lebanese officials on the fate of al-Sadr and the release of Gadhafi. The talks were aimed at reactivating a dormant agreement between Lebanon and Libya, struck in 2014, for cooperation in the probe of al-Sadr. The delegation did not return to Beirut as planned.
The leaks by Al-Jadeed came after reports that Gadhafi was receiving special treatment at police headquarters and that he had cosmetic surgeries including hair transplants and teeth improvements. Al-Jadeed quoted him as saying: “Let them take my hair and teeth and give me my freedom.”
Gadhafi went on a hunger strike in June last year and was taken to a hospital after his health deteriorated.
Libya’s Justice Ministry in a statement Sunday said Gadhafi is being deprived of his rights guaranteed by law. It called on Lebanese authorities to improve his living conditions to one that “preserves his dignity," adding that Lebanese authorities should formally inform the ministry of the improvements. It also said Gadhafi deserves to be released.
After he was kidnapped in 2015, Lebanese authorities freed him but then detained him, accusing him of concealing information about al-Sadr’s disappearance.
Al-Sadr was the founder of the Amal group, a Shiite militia that fought in Lebanon’s 1975-90 civil war and later became a political party that is currently led by the country’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.
Many of al-Sadr’s followers are convinced that Moammar Gadhafi ordered al-Sadr killed in a dispute over Libyan payments to Lebanese militias. Libya has maintained that the cleric, along with two traveling companions, left Tripoli in 1978 on a flight to Rome.
Human Rights Watch issued a statement in January calling for Gadhafi’s release. The rights group noted that Gadhafi was only 2 years old at the time of al-Sadr’s disappearance and held no senior position in Libya as an adult.



Israeli Strike Kills 26 People in Gaza City House

Water is distributed at the Islamic University in Gaza City, which now serves as a shelter for displaced Palestinians amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza, Sunday, April 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Water is distributed at the Islamic University in Gaza City, which now serves as a shelter for displaced Palestinians amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza, Sunday, April 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
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Israeli Strike Kills 26 People in Gaza City House

Water is distributed at the Islamic University in Gaza City, which now serves as a shelter for displaced Palestinians amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza, Sunday, April 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Water is distributed at the Islamic University in Gaza City, which now serves as a shelter for displaced Palestinians amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza, Sunday, April 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

An Israeli airstrike killed at least 26 Palestinians, including children, in a house in Shejaia in Gaza City, local health authorities said on Wednesday.
Medics said dozens of others were wounded in the attack that hit a multi-floor residential building in the eastern suburb of Gaza City. They said many were still believed to be missing and trapped under the ruins of the building. The strike damaged several other houses nearby, medics said.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army, Reuters reported.
Last week, the military ordered Shejaia residents to evacuate, saying forces intended to operate against militants in the area.
Israel last month resumed its bombardment of Gaza after a two-month truce and sent troops back into the enclave. The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Israeli military strikes have killed at least 1,400 people since March 18, when Israel renewed the attacks.
The armed wings of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad shortly afterwards resumed firing rockets into Israeli territory.
Israel and Hamas have traded blame over the stalemate in the ceasefire talks. Arab mediators, Qatar and Egypt, backed by the United States, have stepped up efforts to restore calm but have so far failed to bridge the gap between the warring parties.