Lebanon releases Hannibal Gaddafi on bail after nearly 10 years in prison, lawyer confirms

Lebanon released Hannibal Gaddafi, the son of deposed Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, on bail on Monday after nearly a decade in prison, his lawyer told AFP.

"We left, he is free," Laurent Bayon said, hours after Gaddafi's bail of $900,000 was paid.

The younger Gaddafi, 49, was accused of withholding information about the 1978 disappearance of Lebanese Shia cleric Musa al-Sadr in Libya, but never put on trial.

He was two years old at the time of Sadr's disappearance.

"The bail was paid this morning," Bayon had told AFP earlier on Monday. "Hannibal Gaddafi will finally be free. It's the end of a nightmare for him that lasted 10 years."

In October, a judge ordered Gaddafi's release against bail set at $11 million, which was reduced to $900,000 last week after an appeal by his defence team.

A Lebanese judicial source confirmed earlier on Monday that the bail was paid and said Gaddafi's legal team had been completing release procedures.

Bayon said his client was set to leave Lebanon for a "confidential" destination, adding that he holds a Libyan passport.

"If Gaddafi was able to be arbitrarily detained in Lebanon for 10 years, it's because the justice system was not independent," Bayon said.

He said his client's release reflected a restoration of judicial independence under Lebanon's reformist government that was formed in January.

Musa al-Sadr - the founder of the Amal movement, now an ally of militant group Hezbollah - went missing during an official visit to Libya, along with an aide and a journalist.

Beirut blamed the disappearances on then Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi, who was overthrown and killed decades later in a 2011 uprising.

Ties between the two countries have been strained ever since the trio went missing.

Married to Lebanese model Aline Skaf, Hannibal Gaddafi fled to Syria after the start of the Libyan uprising.

He was kidnapped in December 2015 by armed men who took him to Lebanon, where authorities released him from the kidnappers and later detained him.