Cairo: Libya’s Civil Registry Authority on Friday denied reports it was withholding the issuance of identification documents to the family of late strongman Muammar Gaddafi for political reasons.
“The delay in the issuance is due to incomplete procedures,” the Tripoli-based agency said in a statement on its Facebook page without elaborating. “Their national numbers [IDs] will be issued, once these procedures are completed.”
The agency said it does not take sides in the political feud that has gripped Libya since the 2011 overthrow of Gaddafi in a 2011 armed revolt.
“The authority does not have the right to confiscate the civic rights of any Libyan citizen. Nor can it be [on any] political side.”
The agency was commenting on recent media reports that it was politically biased against Gaddafis.
Gaddafi, who ruled Libya for more than four decades, was slain in October 2011 in his hometown of Sirte. Some of his family members have since fled Libya or are being held in prison.
Post-Gaddafi Libya slid into anarchy and is being governed by two competing administrations: one in Tripoli and the second in the eastern city of Tobruk. UN efforts to resolve the feud have been unsuccessful so far.
His once-influential son Saif Al Islam was reportedly released from prison last year under a general pardon issued by the Tobruk parliament. His whereabouts have since been unknown amid reports that he intends to run in Libya’s upcoming presidential elections.
Al Saadi, another son of Gaddafi, is being held in Libya on charges of involvement in a crackdown on the revolt against his father. Hannibal, a third son, is reportedly being held in Lebanon for alleged involvement in the mysterious disappearance of Lebanese cleric Mousa Al Sadr while the Shiite clergyman was on visit to Libya in 1978.
