Second son of Gaddafi Saif freed from jail in Libya

The second son of former Libyan leader Gaddafi, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, is reported to have been freed under an amnesty. Saif is believed to have been the son Gaddafi preferred as his successor.

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Saif has been held by a militia group in the town of Zintan for the last six years. The militia one of the Zintan brigades are allied with the eastern commander of the Libyan National Army(LNA), Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar. The group just announced he had been released. However, previous reports of his release have turned out to be incorrect. In 2015 a Tripoli court sentenced Saif to death in absentia as the Zintan group refused to surrender him. Saif is wanted by the International Criminal Court(ICC) and is charged with crimes against humanity during his father's attempts to put down the rebellion against him in 2011..

Saif, now 44, was captured back in November 2011 after he had been three months on the run. Saif played a key role in building relations with the west after 2000 and according to the BBC was considered to be a reformist within his father's regime. However, during the uprising in 2011 he was accused of murdering protesters and inciting violence. No one from the UN-supported Government of National Accord(GNA) has confirmed that Saif was released.

The Libya Herald reports that Zintan is in an uproar after the reported release. Al-Ajmaj al-Aitiri who commands the Zintan Abubakr Al-Siddiq brigade that had been holding Saif, reported that he had been released and had left town. The brigade had captured Saif as he fled through the desert six years ago A statement from the brigade said that it was responding to an amnesty for political prisoners from the eastern-based House of Representatives (HoR) government. The statement added that human rights organizations and the courts should oversee the release of political prisoners. Reports about Saif have in the past turned out to be false. The Herald reports: "Last month, the Zintan military council dismissed as completely false claims by the International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Fateh Bensouda that Saif had survived an assassination attempt and that he had been handed over to it by Al-Atiri’s brigade."

Saif was visited at the end of last month by the under-secretary for justice from the HoR government, Eisa Alsaghuit who insisted then that he was already a free man. He also said that the view of the eastern HoR government was that Saif was free to go where he wanted. There are numerous unconfirmed reports of where he might have gone including Algeria, Beida in the east or to the south.

While some Zintanis appear angry at Saif's release in the southern city of Sebha there was celebratory gunfire. A recent tweet confirms the Sebha reaction: "Celebratory gunfire can be heard throughout Sebha news that Seif Al Islam AlGafdafi is free.". Another tweet is from the Zintan Elder's Council: "Zintan Elders Council: We refused to use Saif al-Islam #Gaddfi as a political pawn. #Libya" A final tweet suggests that Gaddafi went to Bani Walid in Libya: "Jamahiriya News Retweeted Jamahiriya News The article states that Saif left Zintan to live in Bani Walid. He is now free." We will soon see how much of this is confirmed.

Iraq's Kurdish Autonomous Region to vote on independence on September 25th

Top government officials and political parties in the autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq have agreed that there will be a referendum on independence on September 25th this year.

The date was set at a meeting in Irbil chaired by the President of the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) Massoud Barzani. A statement was issued saying that the referendum would be held in the three provinces that make up the region but also "areas of Kurdistan outside the region's administration" The central government has urged the KRG not to hold the referendum. Neighboring countries such as Iran, Turkey and Syria all with Kurdish minority populations have all opposed a referendum as has the US.

After the announcement the US State Department expressed concern about the vote saying there were more urgent priorities in Iraq than the independence of the Kurdish people. The department claimed that the vote risked being a distraction from the war against the Islamic State. However, by September the IS may be close to defeat in Iraq. In spite of the support given to Kurdish forces in the fight against the IS both in Iraq and Syria, the US has long supported a unified Iraq and opposed secession. However, the US did say the Kurds did have legitimate expectations meaning perhaps that they might support some further autonomy.

In April, a senior Kurdish official Hoshyar Zebari said that a "yes" vote did not necessarily mean independence would be declared but that it would held the KRG negotiate the best deal with the central government. In driving the IS out of some regions, the Kurdish Peshmerga have taken control of some disputed regions. This includes the oil rich city of Kirkuk and region, Makhmour, Khanigan, and Sinjar. These are all regions where voting on independence will take place in September. This is bound to produce anger in Baghdad.

In April, PM of Iraq Haider al-Abadi had said: "The desire of our Kurdish brothers to create a country of their own is their right... and nobody has the right to deter them. But holding a referendum at this time is not right as the war [against IS] still rages, the region's situation is not suitable, and some neighbouring countries believe this move poses a threat to the nation's security themselves."

The governor of Kirkuk Naimadin Karim called the decision to hold the referendum important. Baghdad considers his province 'disputed territory'. Karim said that the vote will eventually lead to declaring independence. Kurdish PM Barzani said on Monday that times had changed and that there was no longer a term such as "disputed territory" in their dictionary. Since Kurdish peshmerga now control the Kirkuk and other territories taken from the IS, it seems they will be unwilling to return them to Baghdad's jurisdiction. Karim said: “Referendum will certainly be held to walk towards independence and eventually achieving independence. I am sure the people of Kirkuk will support and vote for it, not only Kurds, but also Arabs and Turkmen." Kirkuk is a multi-ethnic city with Turkmen and Arabs as well as Kurds. It remains to be seen whether the referendum will result in ethnic tensions. Certainly there will be objections from Baghdad. Turkey has already voiced its disapproval of the referendum.