Libyan al-Qumma party proposes to pay half of bail demanded by Lebanese court

The president of the Libyan al-Qumma party, Abdallah Naqer, recently proposed that his party — founded in 2011 in the wake of the uprising against former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi — pay half of the $11 million bail demanded on Oct. 18 by Investigating Judge Zaher Hamadeh, in exchange for the release of Hannibal Gaddafi, the late leader's son.

This information, reported by several Arab media outlets, was confirmed to L’Orient-Le Jour by a member of Hannibal Gaddafi's defense team.

Gaddafi has been detained in Lebanon since December 2015 without being questioned for eight years.

It was only on Oct. 18 that he was finally summoned to a hearing, after which Judge Hamadeh decided on his conditional release.

Lawyers called the $11 million bail exorbitant, demanding either its cancellation or, failing that, a significant reduction by Oct. 22. Hamadeh's decision on this request is still pending.

Gaddafi is imprisoned for "withholding information" in the case of the disappearance in Libya in August 1978 of Imam Musa Sadr, president of the Higher Shiite Islamic Council and founder of the Amal movement, along with his two companions, journalist Abbas Badreddine and Sheikh Mohammad Yaacoub. At the time of the incident, Gaddafi was only three years old.

Hannibal Gaddafi's defense team told L’Orient-Le Jour that Naqer has not been in contact with any of its members, but specified that communication did take place with someone close to Hannibal Gaddafi, who passed along the message.

When contacted, Ines Harrak, coordinator of the defense team, stated that Naqer "was thanked for his initiative," but emphasized that "the team remains committed to the principle of not paying bail," maintaining that Hannibal is "innocent."

The aforementioned Arab media outlets report that the al-Qumma party leader said his initiative was "purely humanitarian and national in scope, aiming to promote genuine reconciliation among Libyans."

According to the same media sources, the Libyan party president made payment of the bail conditional on "the immediate release of Hannibal Gaddafi and his handover to Libya or another country agreed upon with the party, in such a way as to ensure his dignity and freedom."

Naqer stressed that his proposal does not in any way mean that his party is renouncing the principles of the Feb. 17 revolution (2011); on the contrary, he said, the party remains committed to its foundations and goals, intending to serve the country and strengthen its unity, as reported by those same media outlets.