Libya to release Gaddafi regime officials, including suspected war criminals, over 'health concerns'

Libyan authorities are set to release several Gaddafi-era senior officials over "medical concerns", the country's director of the attorney general's investigations office said.

Seddik al-Sour told The New Arab's Arabic-language service on Monday that among the detained officials set to be freed is Abu-Zaid Dorda, who served as the Gaddafi regime's spy chief.

"Dorda and a number of other former Gaddafi regime figures will be freed in the coming hours," Sour said.

"The decision was made... after doctors confirmed that the health of Dorda and the others are in critical condition and that they cannot be treated inside prison,"

He added that other jailed officials set to be released are former Military Intelligence official Abdel Hamid Ammar and former Air Force Chief Abdel Karim al-Kadeiki.

Thirty-two officials were convicted in 2015 of serious crimes during the 2011 uprising that toppled late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

Dorda, 74, was sentenced to death along with nine others, while other defendants were sentenced to prison terms ranging from five years to life imprisonment.

Rights groups at the time criticised Libyan authorities of "serious due process violations" during the trials.

Libya descended into chaos following the 2011 uprising.

The country is now split between rival governments in the east and west, each backed by an array of militias.