Saif al-Islam al-Gaddafi, son of the ousted former Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi, registered today as a candidate for the presidential elections scheduled for December 24, reported agencies.
Al Ahrar television showed images of Saif in a facility of the High Electoral Commission located in the southern city of Sabha, where he signed the necessary documents for registration.
In an interview last July with the American newspaper The New York Times, he defended his father's work and hinted at his aspirations for the highest magistracy, according to Prensa Latina.
“It is time to go back to the past. The country is on its knees. There is no money, there is no security, there is no life here, ”said Saif, 49, who was imprisoned for several years after the overthrow and murder of his father a decade ago.
In the coming days, the announcement of the candidacies of several key figures on the national scene is expected, including Marshal Khalifa Haftar, Acting Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeiba and the head of parliament Aqila Saleh.
To date, former ambassadors Ibrahim Dabbash, Aref Al Nayed and Abdel Majid Ghaith Saif Al Nasr have announced their plans to occupy the head of state, as has comedian Hatem Al Kour.
Also former Foreign Ministers Abdulhadi Al Hawaij, Industry Fathi bin Shatwan and Interior Fathi Bashagha, as well as former President of the Presidential Council Ahmed Maiteeq will try to be elected.
This nation has been experiencing a spiral of violence since the overthrow of al Gaddafi in 2011, after a war supported by members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, including the United States, France and the United Kingdom.
Under the auspices of the UN, 75 Libyan delegates representing various factions and territories elected a transitional government last February, charged with leading the country until the December elections.
The Libyan Military Prosecutor General's Office asked the Supreme Electoral Commission to suspend the candidacy of Saif al Islam Gaddafi, while the investigation for alleged crimes against humanity remains open, reports EFE.
In a letter to the head of the Supreme Electoral Commission, Imad al Sayeh, the military prosecutor, Mohamed Gharuda, asked that the same measure be applied equally in the case of Field Marshal Khalifa Hafter, guardian of the Parliament in Tobrouk (east) and strongman of the country, and held him responsible "for any violation that occurs" with respect to both cases in relation to the electoral process, the holding of which is still up in the air due to disputes between the different centres of power.
