Former Libyan intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi’s daughter, who was kidnapped last week, has been released, a member of her tribe says.

Unud al-Senussi, whose father was spy chief for Libya's slain dictator Muammar Gaddafi, had finished a 10-month jail sentence when she was abducted on September 2.

Reports say al-Senussi was arrested after entering Libya illegally with a forged passport in October 2012, in order to visit her imprisoned father.

Abdelkader Belgacem, a member of the Magerha tribe to which Unud belongs, said on Sunday that she was freed on Saturday evening and is currently “safe with members of her family in Brak al-Shati” in southern Libya.

“Unud is due to spend some time in the south before going to Egypt to join her mother and sister,” Belgacem added.


According to Libya’s Justice Minister Salah al-Marghani, Unud was kidnapped by armed men who ambushed her convoy as she left a prison in the country's capital Tripoli.

A unit in the security forces, however, said on Thursday that it had seized the former spy chief’s daughter to thwart a plan by “other parties” to abduct her and claim a ransom.

The North African country’s former intelligence chief is currently in prison for crimes carried out during the 2011 Libyan revolution.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has also accused al-Senussi of committing crimes against humanity during the uprising, which led to the ouster and assassination of Gaddafi.

The ex-spy chief is due to stand trial on September 19 along with other top figures from the former regime.

Libyans rose up against Muammar Gaddafi’s four-decade rule in February 2011 and deposed him in August 2011. He was killed on October 20 of the same year.