Libya’s judicial authorities have formally asked Lebanon to release one of the late dictator Muammar Qaddafi’s sons, held without charges in Lebanon since 2015 because of his deteriorating health, officials said Monday.

The health of Hannibal Qaddafi has been deteriorating since he went on hunger strike on June 3, to protest his detention without trial. He was taken to hospital at least twice since then and has been only drinking small amounts of water.

According to two Lebanese judicial officials, Libya’s prosecutor general Al-Sediq al-Sour, sent a request earlier this month to his Lebanese counterpart, Ghassan Oueidat, regarding Hannibal Qaddafi. The officials spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

The note stated that Lebanon’s cooperation in this matter could help reveal the truth regarding the fate of a prominent Lebanese Shiite cleric, Moussa al-Sadr, who went missing in Libya in 1978.

It questioned why Qaddafi was being held and asked that he be either handed over to Libya or be allowed to return to Syria, where he had been living in exile with his Lebanese wife, Aline Skaf, and children until he was abducted and brought to Lebanon eight years ago.