TRIPOLI, Libya – Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of Libya’s late strongman Muammar Gaddafi and once regarded as his political heir, has reportedly been shot dead, according to members of his political team.
The death of the 53-year-old was confirmed on Tuesday by the head of his political office, the Libyan News Agency reported.
Conflicting accounts have since emerged about the circumstances surrounding his killing, highlighting the persistent instability in the country.
Gaddafi’s lawyer told AFP that a four-man commando unit carried out what he described as an assassination at Saif al-Islam’s home in the western Libyan city of Zintan.
However, no group has claimed responsibility, and the identity of the attackers remains unclear.
In a separate account, his sister told Libyan television that Saif al-Islam died near Libya’s border with Algeria, further adding to the uncertainty over the exact location and timing of the incident.
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi was widely considered one of the most powerful figures in Libya during his father’s four-decade rule, which ended in 2011 when Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown and killed during a popular uprising.
Born in 1972, he played a central role in Libya’s rapprochement with Western governments in the early 2000s, helping to negotiate agreements that led to the abandonment of Libya’s nuclear weapons programme and the lifting of international sanctions.
Despite holding no formal government post, he was deeply involved in policymaking and diplomacy.
After the collapse of the Gaddafi regime, Saif al-Islam was accused of orchestrating violent crackdowns against protesters during the 2011 uprising. He was captured and held for nearly six years by a militia in Zintan.
The International Criminal Court sought his extradition to face charges of crimes against humanity related to the suppression of anti-government protests.
In 2015, a Tripoli-based court sentenced him to death in absentia, though the ruling was issued while the country was under divided political control.
He was later released in 2017 by authorities in eastern Libya under an amnesty law, amid Libya’s ongoing power struggle between rival governments and armed factions.
Although he repeatedly denied seeking to inherit power from his father, Saif al-Islam re-entered the political spotlight in 2021 when he announced plans to run for president.
The elections were later postponed indefinitely, reinforcing Libya’s prolonged political deadlock.
Libya remains fractured more than a decade after the fall of the Gaddafi regime, with competing governments and militias vying for control — a backdrop that continues to fuel uncertainty around high-profile political figures.
