Cart
0
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi Shot Dead in Libya
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of Libya’s former ruler Muammar Gaddafi, has been shot dead by unidentified gunmen at his home, prompting an official investigation into the killing.
Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi free photo
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the most prominent son of Libya’s former leader Muammar Gaddafi, has been killed by gunmen inside his home, according to his adviser and Libyan officials.
Abdullah Othman Abdurrahim, an adviser to Saif al-Islam, told the Libyan television channel al-Ahrar on Tuesday that a group of four unidentified men carried out the killing. He said the assailants disabled surveillance cameras before storming the residence and executing Saif al-Islam.
Gear Spotlight- What Our Readers Are Picking Up
“Four-armed men stormed the residence of Seif al-Islam Kadhafi after disabling surveillance cameras, then executed him,” Abdurrahim was quoted as saying.
The death of the 53-year-old was also confirmed by sources close to the Gaddafi family, his lawyer Khaled el-Zaydi, and Libyan media outlets, though they said the precise circumstances were not immediately clear. His cousin, Hamid Kadhafi, told al-Ahrar TV: “Seif al-Islam has fallen as a martyr,” adding that the family did not yet have further details.
Several media reports said Saif al-Islam was killed in Zintan, in north-western Libya, a town where he had spent years in detention and later lived in hiding. His whereabouts had long been unclear. Al Arabiya television reported that four attackers shot him in his garden, but said responsibility for the killing had not been established.
Libya’s Attorney General’s Office said it had opened an investigation into the alleged killing. In a statement, it said investigators and forensic doctors examined Saif al-Islam’s body and determined that he died from gunshot wounds. The office said it was working to identify suspects and take the necessary steps to pursue a criminal case.
Although he held no official position in later years, Saif al-Islam was once considered the most powerful figure in Libya after his father, who ruled the oil-rich country for more than four decades until he was overthrown and killed in 2011. Saif al-Islam played a central role in negotiations for Libya to abandon its weapons of mass destruction and was involved in talks to compensate the families of victims of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.
Seeking to end Libya’s international isolation, he cultivated ties with Western governments and presented himself as a reformer, calling for a constitution and greater respect for human rights. Educated at the London School of Economics and fluent in English, he was widely seen for a time as a Western-friendly face of the Libyan regime.
That image collapsed during the 2011 uprising against Muammar Gaddafi. Saif al-Islam sided firmly with his family and clan, becoming one of the architects of a violent crackdown on protesters and rebels, whom he described as “rats.” In a speech at the time, he warned that rivers of blood would flow and declared: “We fight here in Libya, we die here in Libya.”
After rebel forces seized Tripoli, Saif al-Islam attempted to flee to neighboring Niger disguised as a Bedouin tribesman. He was captured by the Abu Bakr Sadik Brigade militia on a desert road and flown to Zintan about a month after his father was captured and summarily shot dead by rebels. Saif al-Islam was held in detention there for the next six years.
In 2015, a court in Tripoli sentenced him to death by firing squad for war crimes. He was also wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, which issued an arrest warrant accusing him of murder and persecution.
He was released by the Zintan militia in 2017 under an amnesty law and subsequently lived underground in the area to avoid assassination attempts. In 2021, wearing traditional Libyan dress, he re-emerged in the southern city of Sabha to file his candidacy for Libya’s long-delayed presidential elections.
His candidacy proved deeply controversial and was strongly opposed by many Libyans who had suffered under his father’s rule, as well as by powerful armed groups that emerged from the 2011 uprising. As disputes over electoral rules intensified, Saif al-Islam’s bid became a major point of contention.
He was ultimately disqualified from running because of his 2015 conviction. When he attempted to appeal the decision, armed fighters blocked access to the court. The resulting standoff contributed to the collapse of the election process and Libya’s return to political stalemate.
Editor’s Note:
This article is based on statements from advisers, family members, Libyan media, and Libya’s Attorney General’s Office. Details surrounding the killing of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi remain under investigation, and some circumstances have not yet been independently verified.
