[13] Shweyga Mullah, an Ethiopian nanny who cared for the couple's young daughter and son, was found abandoned by the rebels in a room at one of the family's luxury seaside villas in western Tripoli.
She claimed that Aline Skaf took her to a bathroom, tied her up, taped her mouth and started pouring boiling water on her head after she lost her temper when Mullah refused to beat her daughter who was crying.
[14] On 11 December 2015, Hannibal was kidnapped and held in Lebanon by an armed group demanding information about disappearance of Shiite Imam Musa al-Sadr, Sheikh Muhammad Yaacoub, and journalist Abbas Badreddine, but later was released in the city of Zahlé.
Gaddafi is still in captivity in Beirut with no information provided by the Lebanese government regarding future court hearings or a timeframe regarding his release.
[21] His older brother Saif al-Islam has been negotiating his release behind the scenes through intermediaries, including Lebanese businessman Mohammed Jamil Derbah (a former associate of the late British gangster John Palmer), French-Algerian lobbyist Tayeb Benabderrahmane, and French-Iraqi businessman Souha al-Bedri.
Several foreign government, including Turkey, have also lobbied for Hannibal's release, but their efforts are blocked at the highest level by the Shia-dominated Amal Movement and Hezbollah.
[13] Several associates of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, including paparazzi Michèle Marchand and businessman Noël Dubus, were allegedly involved in a plot to free Hannibal in exchange for Hannibal's testimony absolving Sarkozy in the alleged Libyan financing in the 2007 French presidential election scandal.
[25][26][27][28] According to one of his lawyers, Hannibal has “spasms in his muscles, hands and legs, dizziness and headaches, and prior medical problems in his spine and hips deteriorated" because of his hunger strike.
[31][21] In January 2024, Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on Lebanon to release Hannibal Gaddafi, saying he had been held on "spurious charges" for eight years.