SAIF AL-ISLAM GADDAFI, SON OF LATE LIBYAN LEADER, REPORTEDLY SHOT DEAD
Former heir apparent to Muammar Gaddafi killed in suspected assassination at home in Zintan, reports say
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the 53-year-old son of Libya’s former leader Col Muammar Gaddafi, has reportedly been shot dead in what officials are describing as a targeted assassination.
According to the Libyan News Agency, his death was confirmed on Tuesday by the head of his political team. His lawyer told AFP that a four-man commando unit stormed his residence in the city of Zintan and carried out the attack.
However, conflicting reports have emerged, with his sister telling Libyan television that he died near the Algerian border, raising questions about the exact circumstances of his death.
Saif al-Islam, once regarded as his father’s heir apparent, was one of the most powerful and controversial figures in Libya before and after the 2011 uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi.
Born in 1972, Saif al-Islam played a pivotal role in Libya’s diplomatic rapprochement with the West between 2000 and 2010. He was credited with helping negotiate Libya’s renunciation of its nuclear weapons programme, a move that led to the lifting of international sanctions.
After the fall of the Gaddafi regime, he was captured by a militia in Zintan in 2011 and detained for nearly six years. The International Criminal Court (ICC) had sought his arrest on charges of crimes against humanity for allegedly helping orchestrate the violent crackdown on anti-government protesters during the uprising.
In 2015, a court in Tripoli sentenced him to death in absentia for his role in the crackdown, though he was later released under an amnesty law by forces aligned with Libya’s eastern administration in Tobruk.
Despite denying that he sought to inherit power from his father, Saif al-Islam announced his intention to run for president in 2021 elections that were later postponed indefinitely.
Libya remains deeply divided, with rival governments in the east and west and powerful militias controlling large parts of the country.
Authorities have not yet identified those responsible for the alleged assassination, and no group has claimed responsibility as of the time of reporting.
Source:NKONKONSA.com
