Libyan prosecutors say they have opened an investigation into the killing of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
Saif al-Islam, 53, was killed during what officials described as a “direct confrontation” with four unidentified gunmen who broke into his home in the city of Zintan, according to a statement from his office. Prosecutors said he died from gunshot wounds and that efforts are under way to identify those responsible.
Conflicting accounts have emerged about the circumstances of his death. In a separate statement to Libyan television, his sister said he was killed near Libya’s border with Algeria.
Saif al-Islam’s lawyer told AFP that a “four-man commando” unit carried out what he described as an assassination at his home in Zintan, though the motive and those behind the attack remain unclear.
The public prosecutor’s office said forensic teams have been sent to Zintan, in north-west Libya, to carry out investigations.
Once seen as his father’s heir apparent, Saif al-Islam was long regarded as one of the most powerful and controversial figures in Libya after Muammar Gaddafi, who ruled the country from 1969 until he was overthrown and killed during the 2011 uprising.
Libyan journalist and writer Abdulkader Assad said Saif al-Islam may have been targeted by local actors who felt their political influence was being threatened by his popularity. He added that foreign involvement could not be ruled out, given Saif al-Islam’s controversial history.
Born in 1972, Saif al-Islam played a key role in Libya’s rapprochement with Western countries from the early 2000s until the collapse of the Gaddafi regime. After his father’s removal, he was accused of helping to orchestrate the violent suppression of anti-government protests and was detained by a militia in Zintan for nearly six years.
The International Criminal Court sought to prosecute him for crimes against humanity linked to the 2011 crackdown. In 2015, a court in Tripoli sentenced him to death in absentia. Two years later, he was released by a militia in eastern Libya under an amnesty law.
Since the fall of the Gaddafi regime, Libya has remained deeply divided, with large parts of the country controlled by rival militias and two competing governments claiming authority.
Despite holding no formal government position during his father’s rule, Saif al-Islam wielded significant influence, leading major negotiations, including those that resulted in Libya abandoning its nuclear weapons programme and the lifting of international sanctions.
Although he repeatedly denied ambitions to succeed his father, insisting power was “not a farm to inherit”, Saif al-Islam announced in 2021 that he intended to run for president in elections that were later postponed indefinitely.
