War-torn Libya has issued an arrest warrant for a dissident whose wife was given £500,000 by the British government for its role in their rendition.

Adbel Hakim Belhaj is wanted over his alleged involvement in terror attacks on oil terminals and on an airbase in southern Libya.

Mr Belhaj, who leads the country’s pro-Islamist Watan Party, is the most prominent figure among dozens wanted by the attorney general’s office in Tripoli.

Adbel Hakim Belhaj is wanted over his alleged involvement in terror attacks on oil terminals and on an airbase in southern Libya

He denied the allegations against him, which centre on reports that Sudanese and Chadian mercenaries were paid to create chaos in Libya. And he claimed the warrant was ‘a plot by those in control of security in Tripoli to distance me from the political scene’.

Libya descended into civil war following the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 and its UN-backed government in Tripoli is struggling to exert authority.

Mr Belhaj, who was the leader of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, which was allied to al Qaeda and the Taliban, received an apology from Theresa May last year for Britain’s role in his rendition and that of his pregnant wife.

Libya descended into civil war following the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 and its UN-backed government in Tripoli is struggling to exert authority

He said the CIA abducted them in Thailand and handed them to the Gaddafi regime – where he was tortured – following a tip-off from British intelligence.

Belhaj spent six years taking legal action in UK courts against British officials, including former foreign secretary Jack Straw.

After the fall of Gaddafi, he branched out into business but is still seen as a controversial figure that threatens to disrupt the government in Tripoli.