Tripoli, Libya | Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of Libya’s former leader Col Muammar Gaddafi and once regarded as his political heir, has reportedly been shot dead, according to Libyan media reports.
The death of the 53-year-old was confirmed on Tuesday by the head of his political team, the Libyan News Agency reported.
His lawyer told the AFP news agency that a “four-man commando” unit carried out an assassination at his residence in the western city of Zintan, although it was not immediately clear who was responsible.
Conflicting accounts have since emerged. Saif al-Islam’s sister told Libyan television that he died near Libya’s border with Algeria, casting uncertainty over the exact circumstances and location of the killing.
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi was widely seen as the most influential figure in Libya after his father, who ruled the country from 1969 until he was overthrown and killed during the 2011 uprising.
Born in 1972, he played a prominent role in Libya’s re-engagement with Western countries from the early 2000s until the collapse of the Gaddafi regime.
Despite holding no formal government position, he was a key powerbroker and led high-level negotiations, including talks that resulted in Libya abandoning its nuclear weapons programme.
Those agreements led to the lifting of international sanctions, with some observers viewing him as a reform-minded face of a changing Libya.
Following the fall of his father, Saif al-Islam was accused of playing a central role in the violent repression of anti-government protests in 2011.
He was captured and held for nearly six years by a militia in Zintan.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) sought his extradition to face trial on charges of crimes against humanity related to the suppression of the uprising.
In 2015, a court in Tripoli sentenced him to death in absentia, at a time when western Libya was under the control of the UN-backed government.
However, he was released in 2017 by authorities in eastern Libya under an amnesty law, amid the country’s deep political and military divisions.
Since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi, Libya has remained fragmented, with rival governments and numerous armed militias competing for control of different regions.
Although he repeatedly denied seeking to inherit power, famously saying leadership was “not a farm to inherit,” Saif al-Islam announced in 2021 that he would run for the presidency.
The elections were later postponed indefinitely, further entrenching Libya’s prolonged political crisis.
Authorities have yet to issue an official statement confirming his death, and investigations into the reported killing are ongoing.
SOURCE: BBC
