A court in southern Libya on Thursday reinstated Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, son of slain leader Moammar Gadhafi, as a candidate in this month's presidential election, Libyan media reported.

He had lodged an appeal earlier in the day at the court in Sebha against the electoral commission's rejection of his application last month.

The commission had pointed to articles of the electoral law stipulating that candidates "must not have been sentenced for a dishonorable crime" and must present a clean criminal record.

The December 24 polls come as Libya seeks to turn a page on a decade of violence that has rocked the oil-rich nation since a NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed Gaddafi in 2011.

Wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes, Seif al-Islam, who registered to run on November 14, was among 25 candidates whose bids have been rejected, the HNEC commission said in a statement.

(With input from agencies)