TRIPOLI (Reuters) - The man who served as Libya’s prime minister for the final five years of dictator Muammar Gaddafi’s rule will be released on Saturday to receive medical treatment abroad, Libya’s justice ministry said in a statement.

The authorities in Libya were no longer able to provide effective treatment for al-Baghdadi Ali al-Mahmoudi, who needed the care of international specialists, the statement said. It gave no information about the nature of his ailment.

Mahmoudi was extradited by Tunisian authorities in 2012 to Libya’s interim government for crimes against the Libyan people during the 2011 uprising that toppled Gaddafi.

He was sentenced to death in 2015, along with Gaddafi’s prominent son Saif al-Islam and other senior officials.

Libya descended into chaos following the NATO-backed uprising in 2011, with myriad armed groups and two administrations vying for control.