Mansour Dhao Ibrahim (; sometimes spelled Dao or Daw) is a Libyan former politician. He was a prominent figure in the Gaddafi government, serving as

Muammar Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi (20 October 2011) was a Libyan military officer, revolutionary, politician and political theorist who ruled Libya from 1969 until Killing of Muammar Gaddafi, his assassination by Libyan Anti-Gaddafi ...

's chief of security until they were both captured. Dhao was the leader of the regime's People's Guard. He is Gaddafi's cousin.

Biography

Libyan Civil War and capture

Dhao fled with Gaddafi during the Battle of Tripoli. On 20 October 2011, Dhao was captured in

Sirte Sirte (; , ), also spelled Sirt, Surt, Sert or Syrte, is a city in Libya. It is located south of the Gulf of Sirte, almost right in the middle between Tripoli and Benghazi. It is famously known for its battles, ethnic groups and loyal ...

, despite earlier reports that he was in

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

. He was injured after a

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

airstrike destroyed the convoy in which he and Gaddafi were traveling, and he was taken into custody by fighters from

Misrata Misrata ( ; , Libyan Arabic: ; also spelled Misratah and known by the Italian spelling Misurata) is a city in northwestern Libya located in the Misrata District, situated to the east of Tripoli on the Mediterranean coast near Cape Misrata. ...

. Dhao was quoted at length in a ''New York Times'' piece published two days later in which he said he had been in Sirte since late August, he regretted his decision to remain loyal to Gaddafi, and his jailers were treating him well. Dhao also denied any role in the crackdown on the demonstrators during the protests of the 2011 Libyan civil war.

Imprisonment and trial

On 24 February 2012, Dhao claimed in a prison interview with

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

that he had not been given access to a lawyer or allowed to see his family. He also defended Gaddafi's legacy and claimed that, "his ideas as a philosopher or as a thinker will live on." On 24 September 2013, it was reported that Dhao was interviewed by ''

Le Monde (; ) is a mass media in France, French daily afternoon list of newspapers in France, newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average print circulation, circulation of 480,000 copies per issue in 2022, including ...

'' special correspondent Annick Cojean for the book ''Gaddafi's Harem''. Dhao denied any role in facilitating Gaddafi's alleged sexual abuse, but implied other high-ranking officials, especially Nuri al-Mismari, were culpable. In February 2015, Dhao appeared by video link from Misrata in his trial. On 12 August 2015, Dhao was among the nine top Gaddafi loyalists sentenced to death, along with

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi Saif al-Islam Muammar al-Gaddafi (; born 25 June 1972) is a Libyan political figure. He is the second son of the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and his second wife Safia Farkash. He was a part of his father's inner circle, performing publ ...

Abdullah Senussi Abdullah Senussi ( ) is a Libyan national who was the intelligence chief and brother-in-law of former Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. He was married to Gaddafi's sister-in-law. Scottish police officers plan to interview him in connection ...

, Baghdadi Mahmudi, Abuzed Dorda, Milad Salem Daman, Mondher Mukhtar al-Gheneimi, Abdul Hamid Ammar Waheda, and Awidaat Ghandour al-Noubi. On 26 October 2015,

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

reported that Dhao alleged during a court session that the prosecution had offered to release him if he testified against

Release

In July 2022, Prime Minister

Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh Abdul Hamid Muhammad Abdul Rahman al-Dbeibeh (, also transliterated as Dbeibah) is a Libyan politician and businessman who is the prime minister of Libya under the Government of National Unity (Libya), Government of National Unity (GNU) in Tripo ...

engaged in negotiation with Gaddafi loyalists to release Dhao as part of a broader effort to win over Gaddafi loyalists from

Khalifa Haftar Khalifa Haftar (; born 7 November 1943) is a Libyan-American politician, military officer, and the commander of the Tobruk-based Libyan National Army (LNA). In 2015, he was appointed commander of the armed forces loyal to the 2014 Libyan parliam ...

's Tobruk government. In September 2022, the Ministry of Justice of the

Government of National Unity A national unity government, government of national unity (GNU), or national union government is a broad coalition government consisting of all parties (or all major parties) in the legislature, usually formed during a time of war or other nati ...

ordered the release of Daw on health grounds. Daw reportedly planned to live in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

. In December 2022, tribes in the

Fezzan Fezzan ( , ; ; ; ) is the southwestern region of modern Libya. It is largely desert, but broken by mountains, uplands, and dry river valleys (wadis) in the north, where oases enable ancient towns and villages to survive deep in the otherwise in ...

region gave the GNU a 72-hour ultimatum to release Daw, Abdullah Mansour, and

. In February 2023, Daw was released from prison.

References

Libyan Arab Socialist Union politicians Living people People of the Libyan civil war (2011) Libyan prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of Libya Libyan politicians convicted of crimes Year of birth missing (living people) Libyan prisoners of war {{Libya-politician-stub