Lebanese judicial authorities today ordered the release of Hannibal Gaddafi, the son of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who has been held without trial for ten years, on the condition that he post $11 million in bail.

His French lawyer said he would appeal against the bail set, explaining that his client cannot raise that amount since the entire family of the former Libyan dictator is subject to international sanctions.

The Lebanese authorities have been asking Hannibal Gaddafi for information about the mysterious disappearance in Libya of the Lebanese Shiite leader Moussa Sadr in 1978, for which they blame his father. Hannibal, aged 49 today, was only 2 years old at the time.

“The investigator in the case of the kidnapping and disappearance of Imam Sadr has accepted the release of Hannibal Gaddafi, with a bail of 11 million dollars,” an official told AFP on condition of anonymity. At the same time, he was also banned from leaving the country.

“Bail is simply non-existent in the case of an arbitrary detention. We will appeal against her,” said lawyer Laurent Bayon. “Where do you want him to find $11 million?” he wondered.

In September, former Bank of Lebanon chief Riyad Salameh, accused of embezzlement, was released on $14 million bail, an all-time record for Lebanon.

In its own statement, Moussa Sadr’s family says they are “surprised” by the court’s decision. “The capture or release of Hannibal Gaddafi is not our goal. It is but a side judicial aspect of the matter. We are still mainly interested in the disappearance of Imam Musa Sadr,” he said.

Muammar Gaddafi was killed in the 2011 uprising in Libya, along with three of his sons. Hannibal Gaddafi, who has had legal adventures in France and Switzerland in previous years, fled to Syria to be reunited with his Lebanese model wife. He was taken to Lebanese soil by gunmen related to the son of one of Imam Sadr’s two associates, who disappeared with him. The Lebanese authorities released him from the hands of his captors and placed him in custody, without ever bringing him to trial. His lawyer said last week that he had been held in solitary confinement, that he had been hospitalized for several days and that his health was “alarming”.

Lebanese authorities blame Muammar Gaddafi for the disappearance of Sadr and two of his associates in 1978. Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri, who succeeded Imam Sadr as the leader of the Shiite Amal movement, accused the new Libyan authorities of not cooperating in this matter. Libya’s Ministry of Justice, however, last week announced that it had sent “an official memorandum” to the Lebanese judicial authorities, proposing to “settle” the issue.

Hannibal Gaddafi’s name was also heard in the case of Libyan financing of the election campaign of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who was sentenced to five years in prison for this case. From the investigations of the French justice it became clear a possible attempt to corrupt Lebanese judges with the aim of releasing Hannibal Gaddafi, in the hope that he would give information to clear the name of Sarkozy.

Franco-Lebanese businessman Ziad Taqieddin, the “key man” in this case, who had accused Sarkozy of receiving money from Gaddafi, died in September in Lebanon, taking with him what secrets he had.