Saif Gaddafi is France's new card for winning control in Libya against the growing influence of the UAE in the country through the eastern strongman, Khalifa Haftar, reported The New Arab.

Sources, who preferred to remain unnamed, told the newspaper that Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi is still in Zintan and has not left as circulated in the local and international media.

"News said that he went outside Libya and then other news said he is in Al-Bayda city in eastern Libya, but the truth is that since the announcement of his release by Abu Bakir Al-Siddiq Brigade in Zintan, Saif has been living in the same town." The sources explained.

They added that Saif Gaddafi is contacting international figures for his political ambitions, including France, which is using Saif and backing him up in order to overcome the influence of the UAE in the country.

"Saif even received members of his family in Zintan since it was reported he was freed." The New Arab reported the sources as saying.

A spokesman for the Popular Front Party, Ayman Abu Ras, who said he represents Saif Al-Islam Gaddaif, announced from Tunisia last Monday that Saif was running for president for Libya in the upcoming elections in 2018, which in themselves are an absolute uncertainty.

Meanwhile, a day after the announcement of Saif Gaddafi's presidential bid, the Zintan-based brigade announced that Saif denied any connection to the announcement in Tunis, adding that he did not authorize Abu Ras or anyone else to represent him on the political scene.