Libya’s election commission has ruled that Saif al-Islam al-Gadhafi, the son of late Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, is ineligible to run for the country’s president in next month’s election. The ruling on Wednesday will be appealed. The commission disqualified 25 of the 98 registered candidates.
Saif al-Islam al-Gadhafi was tried in absentia for war crimes in 2015 by a Tripoli court though he appeared at the trial via video link from Zintan, where he was seized and held by opposition fighters in October 2011. He is wanted by the International Criminal Court.
The 49-year-old dictator’s son played a major role in shaping policy before the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that deposed his father.
Libya is set to hold its first democratic elections since Moammar Gadhafi was deposed a decade ago on December 24, though it is still not clear that the elections will be held as scheduled due to arguments over the election rules and eligibility.