TRIPOLI: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of former Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi, has been shot dead at his home in Libya, according to Libyan authorities and local media. He was 53.
Saif al-Islam was killed when armed assailants opened fire inside his residence in the city of Zintan, located about 136 kilometers southwest of the capital, Tripoli. His lawyer, Khalid al-Zaydi, and political adviser, Abdullah Othman, confirmed the killing in separate posts on social media on Tuesday. Further details of the attack were not immediately available.
According to local outlet Fawasel Media, Abdullah Othman said four masked gunmen stormed Saif al-Islam’s home. A statement from his political team alleged that the attackers disabled the house’s CCTV cameras prior to the assault in an apparent attempt to destroy evidence. The statement added that Saif al-Islam resisted the attackers before being killed.
Following the incident, former head of the High State Council in Tripoli, Khalid al-Mishri, strongly condemned the killing and called for an immediate, transparent, and impartial investigation.
Although Saif al-Islam did not hold any official government position at the time of his death, he was widely viewed between 2000 and 2011 as his father’s heir apparent and the second most powerful figure in the country.
Muammar Gaddafi was killed by rebels in 2011 after his four-decade rule collapsed during the Libyan uprising. Saif al-Islam was captured later that year while attempting to flee and was held in Zintan. He was released in 2017 under a general amnesty and had since been living in the same city.
