Gadhafi's son Seif al-Islam announces candidacy for Libya president

Seif al-Islam, the son of late Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, announced Sunday his candidacy for the country's presidential election next month, Libya's election agency said.

He submitted his candidacy papers in the southern town of Sabah, the agency said in a statement.

Seif al-Islam was captured by rebel fighters late in 2011, the year when a popular uprising toppled his father after more than 40 years in power.

Moammar Gadhafi was later killed amid the ensuing fighting that would turn into a civil war.

In a video released by the elections office where he registered, Seif al-Islam addressed the camera said that God would decide the right path for the country's future.

It was the first time in years that Seif al-Islam had appeared in public.

Seif al-Islam was released in June 2017 after more than five years of detention, and said in July hat he was considering a run for the country's top office.

His candidacy is likely to stir controversy across the country. Seif al-Islam is wanted by the ICC on charges of crimes against humanity allegedly committed in the first weeks of the 2011 uprising.

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Libya is set to hold presidential elections on Dec. 24, after years of U.N.-led attempts to usher in a more democratic future and bring the country's war to an end.

Following the overthrow and killing of Gadhafi, Libya spent most of the last decade spilt between rival governments - one based in the capital, Tripoli, and the other in the eastern part of the country.