aif al-Islam Gaddafi. Credit line: Fotogramma / Zuma Press / Profimedia
Seif al-Islam Gaddafi, one of the sons of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, wanted by the International Criminal Court, was shot dead on Tuesday by “a four-person commando” in his home in Zintan, northwestern Libya, reports the BBC.
The death of Seif al-Islam Gaddafi, 53, who was once considered his father's heir, was confirmed by the head of his political team, according to the Libyan News Agency.
His French lawyer told the AFP news agency that “a four-person commando” carried out the assassination at his home in the town of Zintan, although it was unclear who was behind the attack.
His adviser Abdullah Othman Abdurrahim said, according to Libya al-Ahrar channel, that four men “stormed” his residence on Tuesday after disabling the surveillance cameras.
“Right now, we don't know” who these gunmen are, said Ceccaldi, who said he spoke with his client about three weeks ago.
Who was Saif al-Islam Gaddafi
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi has long been considered the most influential and feared figure in the country after his father, who ruled Libya from 1969 until he was ousted and killed during an uprising in 2011.
Born in 1972, he played a key role in bringing Libya closer to the West from 2000 until the fall of the Gaddafi regime.
After his father's ouster, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi – who was accused of playing a key role in the brutal crackdown on anti-government protests – was imprisoned by a rival militia in the town of Zintan for nearly six years.
The International Criminal Court wanted to try him for crimes against humanity for his role in suppressing opposition protests in 2011.
In 2015, he was sentenced to death in absentia for his role in the crackdown by a court in Tripoli, in the west of the country, where control is in the hands of the UN-backed government. But he was released by the militia in Tobruk, in the east, under an amnesty law two years later.
Since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi, Libya has struggled to regain stability and unity, having been divided into areas controlled by various militias and currently divided between two rival governments.
During his father's tenure, he shaped policy and led high-level negotiations despite having no official role in government, including those that led his father to abandon his nuclear weapons program. Such agreements led to the lifting of international sanctions on the North African country, and some saw Gaddafi as a reforming and acceptable face of a changing Libya.
Gaddafi has always denied that he wanted to inherit power from his father, stating that the reins of power are “not a farm that is inherited”. However, in 2021, he submitted his candidacy for the presidential elections, relying on the support of nostalgics of the old regime. In the end, the election did not take place.
