Author: Gist Correspondent

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of Libya’s former leader, Col Muammar Gaddafi, 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. However, details surrounding the circumstances of his death remain unclear.

His lawyer told AFP that Saif al-Islam was assassinated at his home in the city of Zintan by a four-man commando unit, though no group has claimed responsibility for the attack. In a separate account, his sister told Libyan television that he died near Libya’s border with Algeria.

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi was widely regarded as his father’s most prominent son and was long seen as a potential successor before the collapse of the Gaddafi regime in 2011.

Born in 1972, he played a significant role in Libya’s re-engagement with Western countries from the early 2000s, helping to negotiate agreements that led to the lifting of international sanctions and Libya’s abandonment of its nuclear weapons programme.

Following the overthrow and killing of his father during the 2011 uprising, Saif al-Islam was captured and detained by a militia in Zintan, where he spent nearly six years in custody. He was accused of playing a key role in the violent suppression of anti-government protests during the uprising.

The International Criminal Court sought his extradition to stand trial for crimes against humanity over his alleged involvement in the crackdown. In 2015, a court in Tripoli sentenced him to death in absentia, though he was later released in 2017 under an amnesty law by authorities aligned with eastern Libya.

Since the fall of the Gaddafi regime, Libya has remained deeply divided, with rival governments and armed militias controlling different parts of the country.

Despite repeatedly denying ambitions to inherit power from his father, Saif al-Islam re-emerged in 2021 when he declared his intention to contest Libya’s presidential election, which was later postponed indefinitely.

Libyan authorities are yet to issue an official statement on the reported killing.