FRANCE complained to Libya yesterday after Colonel Gaddafi’s son, Hannibal, allegedly beat up a woman in a Paris hotel, scuffled with police, brandished a gun and falsely claimed diplomatic immunity.

The Foreign Ministry issued a statement deploring the incident after the main police officers’ union expressed anger at the way in which the 29-year-old youngest son of Colonel Gaddafi had twice made fools of them through his claim to immunity in the past six months.

“We are letting the Libyan authorities know about our unhappiness over these repeated incidents, caused by M Hannibal Gaddafi,” said the ministry. “M Gaddafi does not benefit from diplomatic immunity.”

Last September, M Gaddafi, who attends a business school in Copenhagen, was released on the spot by police, who had pursued him as he allegedly drove his black Porsche at 90mph through red lights on the wrong side of the Champs Elysées while drunk.

Arriving in other cars, his six bodyguards scuffled with police and one was given a suspended sentence in December.

The Libyan Embassy apologised over the incident, which occurred two months before President Chirac visited Tripoli to restore full relations with Libya. In Gaddafi junior’s latest Paris outing, he allegedly beat his woman companion when she refused him access to a room at the Intercontinental hotel in Central Paris at 2am on Wednesday. She was named as Aline Skaf, 24, a model, by one newspaper but police would not confirm her identity. She was taken to the American hospital at Neuilly, a western suburb, where she was treated for bruises. She later brought an assault suit against M Gaddafi, who has now returned to Copenhagen, police said.

M Gaddafi is alleged to have brandished a 9mm handgun before agreeing to hand it over to police. He then checked into the nearby Royal Monceau hotel and police were again called when he began smashing furniture. Frederic Lagache, an official of Alliance, the police union, told The Times: “Libyan officials then stepped in and smoothed things over. Thanks to his immunity, Hannibal Gaddafi left without being bothered at all — not questioned or held in custody.

“If he does not have immunity, he must answer for his actions like any normal citizen. We are angry because we feel powerless in the face of this type of case. Luckily, this boy is a nutter and a rare case. He sees his immunity like a free pass and that is unacceptable.”

Police were relieved by the Government’s firm response. Last autumn, they suspected that M Gaddafi had been given an easy ride because of the Government’s desire for good relations.

Four years ago, his claim to immunity enabled him to leave Rome unhindered after he attacked three Italian policemen with a fire extinguisher in his hotel.

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