A senior Libyan delegation has met top Lebanese officials in Beirut in a bid to secure the release of the son of the late Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi.
Hannibal Qaddafi has been jailed without trial in Lebanon since 2015. He is accused of withholding information about the fate of Musa Al Sadr, an influential Lebanese Shiite cleric who disappeared during a trip to Libya in 1978. Mr Qaddafi was two years old at the time.
Lebanon last month ordered that Mr Qaddafi be released on bail of $11 million, an amount his lawyers say he cannot afford. He is also subject to a travel ban and previously went on a hunger strike over his treatment.
A Libyan official with knowledge of the discussions suggested that Mr Qaddafi might be released as part of a deal “to build again the diplomatic relations between Lebanon and Libya”.
The Libyan delegation was led by Ibrahim Dbeibah, a nephew of Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, who is the Prime Minister of the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity.
The Dbeibah family had strong business ties with the Qaddafi family during Muammar Qaddafi's decades-long rule.
Among the officials the delegation met was President Joseph Aoun.
Walid El Lafi, who was part of the delegation and is the Minister of State for Communication and Political Affairs in the Tripoli-based government, did not refer directly to Mr Qaddafi's case in his remarks after meeting Mr Aoun.
But he said the delegation expressed their desire “to reactivate political, diplomatic, and judicial relations between the two countries”.
“We affirmed our readiness to work together to address issues that may have affected the speed and ease of co-operation, and we consider this visit a positive step that we hope will be followed by tangible results in the coming period,” he said.
Mr El Lafi said that although “we are still in the initial stages”, there had been a “sufficient response” from Lebanon, including Mr Aoun and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.
Mr Berri leads the Amal Movement founded by Mr Al Sadr, whose disappearance still evokes strong emotions in Lebanon nearly 50 years later.
Mr Al Sadr disappeared in Libya along with two companions, Sheikh Muhammad Yaqoub and Abbas Badreddine, a journalist. The family of Mr Yaqoub said they rejected "all settlements and deals" and stated they had demanded many times that questioning of Mr Qaddafi be intensified.
They insisted this demand was not tied to a desire for "revenge" but a bid to find the truth over the disappearances.
Mr Qaddafi fled Libya in 2011 amid protests that ended his father's 42-year rule.
He was living in exile in Syria with his Lebanese wife Aline Skaf and their children when he was abducted and taken to Lebanon.
He was later handed over to Lebanese authorities by a local armed group and has been detained since.
