Libya calls for improvements after leaked photos show tiny cell belonging to Muammar Gaddafi's son in Beirut

BEIRUT — Leaked photos of late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi's son and the tiny underground cell where he has been held for years in Lebanon have sparked concern in the North African country as Libyan authorities demand improvements.

The photos showed a room with no natural light, packed with Hannibal Gaddafi's belongings, a bed and a tiny toilet. “I live in misery,” local television Al-Jadeed quoted the detainee as saying in a broadcast on Saturday evening, adding that he was a political prisoner in a case about which he had no information.

Two Lebanese judicial officials confirmed to The Associated Press on Monday that the photos aired by Al-Jadeed show Gaddafi and the cell where he has been held for years at police headquarters in Beirut. Gaddafi appeared healthy, with a light beard and glasses.

A person normally in contact with Gaddafi, a Libyan citizen, said the photos were taken in recent days. All spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Gaddafi has been held in Lebanon since 2015 after he was kidnapped from neighboring Syria, where he had been living as a political refugee. He was kidnapped by Lebanese militants who demanded information about the fate of prominent Lebanese Shiite cleric Moussa al-Sadr, who went missing during a trip to Libya in 1978.

The fate of al-Sadr was a sore point in Lebanon. His family believes he may still be alive in a Libyan prison, although most Lebanese assume al-Sadr, who would now be 95, is dead.

A Libyan delegation visited Beirut in January to resume talks with Lebanese officials on the fate of al-Sadr and the release of Gaddafi. The aim of the talks was to reactivate a dormant agreement between Lebanon and Libya from 2014 on cooperation in the investigation against al-Sadr. The delegation did not return to Beirut as planned.

Al-Jadeed's revelations came after reports that Gaddafi received special treatment at police headquarters and that he underwent cosmetic surgery including hair transplants and dental enhancements. Al-Jadeed quoted him as saying: “Let them take my hair and teeth and give me my freedom.”

Gaddafi went on hunger strike in June last year and was hospitalized after his health deteriorated.

Libya's Justice Ministry said in a statement on Sunday that Gaddafi was being deprived of his rights guaranteed by law. It called on the Lebanese authorities to improve his living conditions in a way that “preserves his dignity,” adding that the Lebanese authorities should formally inform the ministry of the improvements. It was also said that Gaddafi deserved to be released.

After his abduction in 2015, Lebanese authorities released him but then arrested him and accused him of concealing information about al-Sadr's disappearance.

Al-Sadr was the founder of the Amal Group, a Shiite militia that fought in the 1975-1990 Lebanese Civil War and later became a political party currently led by the country's parliament speaker, Nabih Berri.

Many of al-Sadr's supporters are convinced that Muammar Gaddafi ordered al-Sadr's assassination in a dispute over Libyan payments to Lebanese militias. Libya claims that the cleric and two traveling companions left Tripoli on a flight to Rome in 1978.

Human Rights Watch released a statement in January calling for Gaddafi's release. The human rights group noted that Gaddafi was only two years old at the time of al-Sadr's disappearance and did not hold a senior position in Libya as an adult.