Son of ex- Libyan Leader Saif al-Islam Gaddafi Reportedly Killed in Zintan

Email: online@newsofbahrain.com

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the 53-year-old son of Libya’s late ruler Muammar Gaddafi, has been reported killed in an apparent targeted attack at his home in the western city of Zintan, his lawyer Khaled el-Zaydi and Libyan media said on Tuesday.

According to his lawyer and political adviser, four unidentified gunmen stormed Gaddafi’s residence in Zintan, disabled security cameras and opened fire, killing him in what authorities are calling an “cowardly and treacherous assassination”. An official investigation has been launched by Libya’s Attorney General’s Office to determine who was responsible and the motive behind the attack.

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, born in 1972, rose to prominence as one of the most powerful figures in Libya during the final years of his father Muammar Gaddafi’s rule, exerting wide influence despite holding no formal government position. He became a central figure in Libya’s efforts to rebuild ties with Western countries in the early 2000s and was closely involved in sensitive diplomatic negotiations, including talks that led to Libya abandoning its nuclear weapons programme and the lifting of international sanctions. For a time, he was viewed abroad as a symbol of political change within a tightly controlled state.

His standing collapsed during the 2011 uprising that ended his father’s four-decade rule. Accused of being involved in the violent suppression of demonstrations, Saif al-Islam was captured after the conflict and held for nearly six years by an armed group in Zintan. International prosecutors sought his arrest on allegations of crimes against humanity, while a court in Tripoli sentenced him to death in his absence in 2015. He was later freed in 2017 under a general amnesty issued by authorities aligned with eastern Libya.

In the years that followed, Libya remained deeply fragmented, with rival administrations and powerful militias controlling different parts of the country. Although he repeatedly rejected the idea that political power should pass from father to son, Saif al-Islam attempted a return to public life by declaring his candidacy in the long-delayed 2021 presidential election. The vote was ultimately postponed, leaving his political ambitions unresolved amid the country’s continuing instability.