Colonel Gaddafi's son, Saif al Islam, has been released from prison by rebels in western Libya.

He was being held by an armed group controlling the town of Zintan since November 2011.

The Abu Bakr al-Sadiq Brigade said Saif al Islam was released on Friday, "the 14th day of the month of Ramadan" under an amnesty agreed by the parliament based in the east.

Image: Saif al Islam soon after his capture in November 2011

According to reports from Libya, the son of the dead dictator is now with his relatives in the city of Al-Bayda, where he is expected to make a speech to the nation.

Saif, who studied at the London School of Economics, is the most high profile of Colonel Gaddafi's eight children.


He was captured by rebels as he tried to flee to neighbouring Niger in November 2011 when Tripoli was taken by opposition fighters.

Image: Saif al Islam at his trial in Zintan in 2014

He was sentenced to death by a court in Tripoli two years ago and remains on the wanted list of the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.

Colonel Gaddafi was captured and killed in October 2011 after he was found hiding near the city of Sirte.

Since then, Libya has struggled to establish a national government, with armed groups in the east and west challenging the Tripoli authority's government.