Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, has been reported killed in Libya’s western city of Zintan. According to sources, he was shot and died there after residing in the area for ten years. His political adviser, Abdullah Othman, confirmed the killing, though exact circumstances remain unclear.
Khaled al-Mishri, former head of the Tripoli-based High State Council—a body recognized internationally—called for an “urgent and transparent investigation” into the incident following a social media post.
Gaddafi held no official position in Libya but was widely regarded as his father’s second-in-command from 2000 until 2011, when Muammar Gaddafi was ousted by Libyan opposition forces after four decades of rule. After fleeing to Zintan in 2011 following the overthrow, he was imprisoned briefly before being released in 2017 under a general pardon.
The outlet noted that Gaddafi “unsuccessfully sought Libya’s presidency” following his father’s death. His cousin, Hamid Gaddafi, stated on Al-Ahrar TV that he had “fallen as a martyr.” Gaddafi’s last spokesman, Moussa Ibrahim, posted online: “They killed him treacherously. He wanted a united, sovereign Libya, safe for all its people.”
Ibrahim added: “I spoke with him two days ago. He spoke of nothing but a peaceful Libya and the safety of its people.”
Born in June 1972 in Tripoli, Saif al-Islam was the second son of Muammar Gaddafi. He pursued a PhD at the London School of Economics and was often seen as the reformist face of his father’s regime. Libya has since endured chaos following Muammar Gaddafi’s fall in 2011, with the nation fractured among rival armed groups and militias.