MOSCOW, December 25. /TASS/. Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov has answered a question about a letter written by the son of deposed Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, asking for support at the upcoming elections, saying that it should be addressed to the Russian Foreign Ministry.
"I don’t know. You should obtain information at the [Russian] Foreign Ministry. I don’t know whether it was sent through diplomatic channels, whether it was actually handed over or not," Peskov said.
Bloomberg earlier reported that Saif al-Islam had asked the Russian authorities to support him during the upcoming elections. Media reports said that he counted on both campaign financing and mediation in negotiations with the Libyan power centers.
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed in 2011, has made no public appearances since he was released from the Zintan prison in June 2017, where he had been kept since his father’s regime had been toppled.
There are currently two governments competing for authority in Libya. The Tripoli-based National Accord Government led by Fayez al-Sarraj has been recognized by the international community. The second Cabinet led by Abdullah al-Thani is backed by the Libyan National Army under the command of Khalifa Haftar. Attempts by the parties to achieve a final settlement have so far yielded no results.