Saif al-Islam made the comments during a youth rally on 20 August in Sebha, in the south of the country.

“We will reach an association accord with the EU soon to export goods to markets there without tariffs,” he says.

Saif adds that the deal was the outcome of the improvement in relations between Libya and Europe and the US since 2003.

“Who would have believed that we would reach such achievements,” he says. “They are reality now.”

The EU lifted its sanctions against Libya in 2004. In February 2008, the European Commission proposed that the EU should begin negotiations for a framework agreement with Libya.