Saadi Gaddafi, a former self-styled football player and reputed playboy, warned in a television interview on Friday of imminent attacks on the country’s interim leadership coinciding with the February 17 anniversary of the Libyan uprising.

“I will return to Libya at any time,” the 38-year-old son of the late Muammer Gaddafi said by telephone, in a live broadcast on the pan-Arab Al-Arabiya news channel. “There is a rebellion that is going on day after day and there will be a rebellion in the entire country.”

From his residence in the Niger capital, where he has been given asylum, he said most Libyans, including members of the ruling National Transitional Council, were angry at the interim authorities, whom he described as “gangs”.