Gaddafi's Widow Allowed Back to Libya as Part of 'Reconciliation' Drive
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Libyan officials have allowed Colonel Gaddafi's widow to return from exile abroad as part of a new program of national reconciliation,the Telegraph reported on Monday.
Safia Farkash Gaddafi, who defended her husband publicly until his death, was given permission to return to her home of Baida in eastern Libya two weeks ago.
The Libyan authorities are keen to pacify the country's pro-Gaddafi tribes ahead of a planned major battle to retake the Daesh-held city of Sirte, Colonel Gaddafi's home town.
Sirte fell under Daesh (ISIL) control last year after embittered ex-Gaddafi loyalists formed an alliance of convenience with foreign terrorits.
Safia, 63, who married the Libyan dictator in 1970 and bore him six children, fled to neighboring Algeria in August 2011 as Tripoli fell to anti-Gaddafi rebels.
Together with her daughter Aisha and a number of other senior regime figures, they were given sanctuary first in Algiers and then moved to the Persian Gulf state of Oman.
The decision to allow Safia back along with a number of her grandchildren was rubber-stamped by council officials in Baida around a fortnight ago, according to a number of reports in Libyan media.
The Libyan authorities are understood to view it as part of an effort to build national reconciliation following the formation of a new national unity government last month.