Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, Son of Former Libyan Leader Muammar Gaddafi Murdered in Libya

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the second-eldest son of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, has reportedly been assassinated, according to emerging reports from Libya.

The news was first circulated by AFP, which stated that Saif al-Islam was shot dead at his home in the western city of Zintan. Details about the attacker or the motive behind the killing remain unclear at this time.

However, his sister gave a conflicting account to Libyan television, claiming he was shot near the country’s border with Algeria.

Saif al-Islam, born in 1972, was widely regarded as the most powerful and feared figure in Libya after his father, who ruled the country with an iron fist from 1969 until he was overthrown and killed during the 2011 Arab Spring uprising.

During the final decade of his father’s rule, Saif al-Islam played a central role in Libya’s efforts to improve ties with the West. He led negotiations that resulted in Libya abandoning its nuclear weapons program, which led to the lifting of international sanctions and briefly positioned him as a reformist face of the regime in the eyes of some Western governments.

After the fall of his father in 2011, Saif al-Islam was accused of orchestrating the brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters. He was captured and held for nearly six years by a militia in Zintan. The International Criminal Court sought to try him for crimes against humanity related to the 2011 repression.

In 2015, a court in Tripoli (controlled by the UN-backed government at the time) sentenced him to death in absentia for his role in the crackdown. Two years later, in 2017, he was released under an amnesty law by a militia in Tobruk in eastern Libya.

In recent years, Libya has remained deeply fractured, split between rival governments, militias, and foreign-backed factions since the 2011 revolution.

In 2021, Saif al-Islam announced his intention to run for president in national elections that were later postponed indefinitely. He had long denied any desire to inherit power from his father, famously stating that the leadership was “not a farm to inherit.”