Libya's election commission says Saif al-Islam Gaddafi is ineligible as election candidate

Libya's election commission said Saif al-Islam Gaddafi was ineligible as a presidential election candidate in an initial ruling, according to a list sent by an official from the commission on Wednesday.

The commission released the full list of names it deemed eligible to stand in the election pending an appeal process in which the final decision will rest with Libya's judiciary.

The young Gaddafi was formerly hailed by some in the West a potential reformist and heir to his father, slain dictator Muammar al-Gaddafi.

However, during the Arab Spring revolutions in 2011, he joined his father’s crackdown on protesters and was captured by rebels. 

During his detention, Gaddafi was sentenced to death in absentia by a court in Tripoli over the killing of protestors. He is also wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged crimes against humanity. 

Gaddafi made one of his first public appearances after six years of detention last month in an interview with The New York Times, in which he claimed that the men who used to be his guards are now his friends.