The discovery of an iPad belonging to the youngest son of former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi has revealed hundreds of shocking images of torture alongside glamorous shots of the family’s mansions, yachts and private jet.

It is believed to be the personal computer of high-rolling Hannibal Gaddafi, whose history is littered with allegations of domestic abuse, violence, torture and kidnappings.

The tablet surfaced after it was seized from his home in Tripoli by militiamen fighting against his father in 2011, before being passed through activists groups and journalists in a covert operation to smuggle it out of the country.

The images have finally been made public after Hannibal was mysteriously kidnapped near Lebanon’s Syrian border, on December 11.

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Shopping: Hannibal Gaddafi with his wife Aline Skaf, as he helps her remove a pair of extravagant black and white boots in a photograph discovered alongside more than 1,700 images of torture

Luxury: Family holiday snapshots show the youngest son of Muammar Gaddafi, Hannibal, on a pedalo with his wife and young son

Brutal: More than 1,700 photographs and videos discovered on what is believed to be the private tablet of Hannibal Gaddafi show vicious torture leaving prisoners battered and bleeding

The 40-year-old was then taken into custody on December 13 by Lebanese authorities for allegedly withholding information about the 1978 disappearance of a revered Shiite cleric, in Libya.

Hundreds of images show the Gaddafi family living the high-life on luxury holidays and hopping between their many mansions.

But the discovery of more than 1,700 images of beaten and tortured prisoners reveal a much darker side to Gaddafi’s glamorous lifestyle.

The battered people in the photographs, with blood-shot eyes and bloodied mouths, are believed to be detainees at the infamous Bosleem prison in Tripoli.

Dozens more videos were also saved on the tablet, which appear to show prisoners being tortured during questioning.

But this is not the first time that allegations of violence have brought the life of Hannibal Gaddafi and his wife, former lingerie model Aline Skaf, under the microscope.

The parents-of-two were both arrested by Swiss authorities in 2008, on charges of ‘bodily harm, threatening behaviour and coercion’ after claims they abused two of their staff at the Gaddafi’s hotel in Geneva.

Violence: A man believed to be a prison guard at the notorious Bosleem prison in Tripoli can be seen beating a prisoner with a long, thin rod

Battered: Two men, believed to be prisoners from the infamous Bosleem prison in Tripoli are seen with blood-shot and bruised eyes, in photographs discovered on the tablet

Secret: The tablet device, which contained hundreds of photographs of torture and extravagant family holidays, was first seized in Augst 2011 by militiamen fighting against Colonel Gaddafi

Torture: A blindfolded man, believed to be a prisoner at the Bosleem jail in Tripoli, is beaten during questioning

Attack: The images were discovered on what is believed to be the personal computer of Hannibal Gaddafi, after it was seized from his Tripoli home by militiamen fighting against his father, dictator Colonel Gaddafi

Gaddafi also faced claims in 2008, from a Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet, that he had directed the abduction and beating of a Libyan national while studying as a student in Copenhagen.

Although Gaddafi brought a lawsuit against the newspaper, he failed to appear in court to present his side of the case and the court ruled in support of the newspaper’s version of events.

Perhaps most shockingly, police were called to Claridge’s Hotel in London in 2009, after reports of a woman screaming from inside.

Police were met by three of Gaddafi’s bodyguards blocking the entrance to the couple’s room in the luxury hotel.

His wife Aline was then discovered inside the room bleeding heavily, and she had to be taken by ambulance to hospital where she was treated for facial injuries.

During the Libyan civil war in 2011 Gaddafi and his wife fled to Algeria, before moving to Oman in October 2012 after they were granted political asylum.

Extravagant: Found photographs show Hannibal Gaddafi on luxury holidays with members of his family, including his wife and young son and daughter, alongside horrific images of torture

Posing: Muammar Gaddafi's youngest son, Hannibal, poses in one of hundreds of personal images of his family at home and on holiday

At home: Hannibal Gaddafi is pictured at one of his family's many mansions in Tripoli. He has been accused of numerous cases of violence and involvement in abductions

European tour: The 40-year-old son of Colonel Gaddafi, Hannibal, pictured with his wife Aline Skaf in front of the Eiffel Tower

After they fled Tripoli, their Ethiopian nanny Shweyga Mullah was found abandoned in a room at one of the family’s luxury seaside villas in the west of the city.

She claimed that Aline Skaf had taken her into a bathroom, tied her up, gagged her and begun pouring boiling water on her head.

Aline allegedly lost her temper with her when Mullah refused to beat her young daughter when she was crying.

Mullah was reportedly denied sleep, food and water for more three days. Another member of their staff also supported her story, and claimed he had been regularly beaten and slashed with knives.

The tablet was first seized when a group of militiamen, who were fighting against the dictator Muammar Gaddafi, entered Hannibal’s Tripoli home in August 2011.

Flying high: Hannibal Gaddafi and his wife, Aline Skaf, have faced numerous allegations of violence and domestic disputes, including a 2009 incident at London hotel Claridge's after she was found beaten and bloody in their suite

Relaxing: Just one of the hundreds of images of Hannibal Gaddafi and his family enjoying extravagant holidays, that were discovered alongside images of torture on what is believed to be his private computer

Hand-in-hand: The couple, who have two young children, have also faced allegations of 'bodily harm, threatening behaviour and coercion' in relation to staff members at a hotel they were staying at in Geneva

High life: Hannibal Gaddafi with his wife, former lingerie model Aline Skaf, posing together while on one of their many luxury holidays

MP ARRESTED OVER THE MYSTERIOUS KIDNAPPING OF HANNIBAL GADDAFI A former lawmaker has been arrested by Lebanese authorities in connection with the mysterious kidnapping of Hannibal Gaddafi, according to security sources. Intelligence services brought in former MP Hassan Yaacoub for questioning on Thursday as part of their investigation into the brief kidnapping of Gaddafi, the security source said. Gaddafi, who resided in Syria, was kidnapped on December 11 in Lebanon's Bekaa valley near the Syrian border, but was freed by police hours later. Earlier this week, Lebanese authorities charged Gaddafi with withholding information about the disappearance of revered Shiite cleric Moussa al-Sadr, who vanished in Libya in 1978. According to the security source, investigators discovered that Yaacoub had orchestrated an elaborate scheme to seize Gaddafi from Syria and bring him to Lebanon. "They discovered that Yaacoub had worked with a woman named Fatima to lure Gaddafi from [the coastal Syrian province] Latakia to Damascus, then to Lebanon," he said. Security forces arrested Yaacoub, who will undergo further questioning and will be held until authorities decide whether to charge him. Lebanon's national news agency confirmed Yaacoub's arrest and said it had sparked protests and road closures in east Lebanon. Yaacoub is a former member of parliament from the Shiite Amal movement, which is popular in Lebanon's south and east and which was founded by Sadr. Sadr went missing in Libya in 1978 during an official visit, along with an aide and a journalist. Beirut blamed the disappearances on longtime Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi, and Gaddafi family members were branded personae non gratae by Lebanon, especially among members of the Shiite Muslim community. But Hannibal Gaddafi had secured political refugee status in Syria, a statement by the government in Damascus said earlier this week. Advertisement

It was then handed to a group of media activists based in the Libyan capital who examined the content.

Horrified by their discovery of the gruesome photographs, they released several of the videos and photographs on social media.

But they claim one of their members was kidnapped following the publication – whose fate is still unknown - and, terrified, they decided to move the content of out Libya and handed it to Lebanese journalist Mohamad Chreyteh.

Mr Chreyteh has spent the last year verifying the content, and only decided to make some of the images public after hearing that Hannibal Gaddafi had been taken into detention on December 13.

Hannibal Gaddafi is under investigation for withholding information in relation to the 1978 disappearance in Libya of Shiite cleric, Moussa al-Sadr.

He was handed over to Lebanese Internal Security officials by gunmen who had seized him in Baalbek, Lebanon.

Lebanon on Wednesday rejected a request by Damascus to return Gaddafi to Syria, which considers him a ‘political refugee’.

Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi said he was denying the request because Hannibal Gaddafi was a wanted man in Lebanon.