BEIRUT: Lebanon rejected a request from Libya’s National Transitional Council to extradite the chairman of the Libyan African Aviation Holding Company for involvement in fighting against Libya’s former rebels, saying the claims were not true, Al Hayat newspaper reported Monday.

Diplomatic sources told the pan-Arab daily that the council had sent a handwritten letter to the Lebanese government asking them to extradite Shadi Sabri, who currently resides in Lebanon, to Libya.

The letter said that Sabri had played a role in recruiting mercenaries to fight alongside Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's forces against the rebels. It added that Sabri was also financially involved with Gadhafi's family.

According to Al-Hayat the Information Branch of Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces investigated the claims after receiving the letter two weeks ago and found “that what had been attributed to Sabri was not true ... he was investigated and was let ago a week after.”

The investigations also revealed that Sabri was living in Lebanon legally and that he had arrived to Beirut with family members, the newspaper said.