Gaddafi’s son allowed to run for Presidency in Libya

Saif Islam Gaddafi, son of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, has the right to run for president as he was pardoned after the adoption of the country’s amnesty law, speaker of the House of Representatives Aguila Saleh Issa told Sputnik on Monday.

In December, Gaddafi family spokesman Basem Hashimi Soul said that Gaddafi would run for president in 2018.

“We adopted a law on amnesty and a law on suspending political isolation. Now each Libyan citizen, who is not prosecuted under law, has a right to run [for president]. The voting will show whether Saif is popular among people,” Issa said.

In June 2011, the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for the arrest of Saif Islam Gaddafi over suspicion of murder and persecution. Later in 2011, he was captured by Libyan rebels. In June, the Libyan militia said it had released Gaddafi.

Saif Islam’s father, Muammar Gaddafi, was overthrown and murdered as a result of the civil war in 2011. Since then, the country has been engulfed in clashes between various factions and terror groups.