Libya frees leaders of Islamist group

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya has released the jailed leaders of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, a radical group that had ties to al Qaeda but renounced militant thinking last year, a son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi said on Tuesday.

Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam stood alongside three of the group's leaders at a news conference in Tripoli at which he announced they were among 214 prisoners linked to militant Islamist groups who were being released immediately.

"Today is a very important day in Libyan history because we are going to declare the day when we ended the problems between the Libyan people and they can all shake hands," said Saif.

Abdelhakim Belhadj, the Emir, or commander of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), and deputies Sami Assaadi and Khaled Asherif joined Saif at the news conference to announce they and fellow prisoners were being released.

The LIFG leaders wrote a book while in prison renouncing violence and urging young people to seek inspiration for peace from the Islamic holy book, the Koran.

Libya has already freed several hundred people imprisoned for ties to Islamist militant groups, but the releases have become a focus for a struggle for influence between reformers and hardliners inside Libya's ruling elite.

Saif, who was instrumental in negotiating Libya's emergence from international isolation in the past decade, spearheaded the releases and has pushed for reconciliation with former militants who turn their back on violence.

But Muammar Gaddafi said in January that Libya will keep up to 300 Islamists in jail indefinitely, even after they completed their prison terms, to stop them staging fresh attacks.

His statement was interpreted by many Libyans as a signal that he wanted to put an end to Saif's efforts seeking reconciliation with the ex-militants.

Analysts say Saif's drive to release radical Islamists from jail is aimed at widening support at home among opposition groups, including Islamists who are the most powerful component of the opposition.

(Reporting by Ali Shuaib; Writing by Lamine Ghanmi and Christian Lowe; Editing by Janet Lawrence)