Al Arabiya: Muammar Gaddafi's son killed in Libya
Son of Libya's leader overthrown in 2011 dies in Libya Muammar Gaddafi Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, was 53 years old. This was reported by the media Al Arabiya citing an unnamed source close to the family.
According to him, four attackers shot Gaddafi in his garden and then fled the scene. It is not yet clear who is responsible for the assassination, he said.
The Libyan state news agency LANA also reported the death of the son of the ousted Libyan leader, referring to his adviser Abdullah Othman.
Saif al-Islam has long been considered his father's successor. In 2021, he announced his intention to run for president, but the election was postponed indefinitely.
Media Al Jazeera Arabic clarified that he was killed in the western Libyan city of Zintan, where he had been staying for the past decade.
Agency Reuters writes that, despite his lack of official position, he was once considered the most powerful figure in the oil-rich North African country after his autocratic father, who ruled for more than four decades.
Determined to end Libya's pariah status, Saif al-Islam engaged with the West and positioned himself as a reformer, calling for the adoption of a constitution and respect for human rights.
In 2011, when an uprising against Gaddafi's long rule broke out, Saif al-Islam immediately chose family and clan loyalty over his many friends to become the architect of a brutal suppression of the rebels, whom he called rats.
After the rebels captured Tripoli, Saif al-Islam tried to escape to neighboring Niger. However, he was captured on a desert road and flown to the western city of Zintan. This happened about a month after his father was hunted down and killed by rebels. As a result, he spent six years in detention.
In 2015, a court in Tripoli sentenced Saif al-Islam to death by firing squad. An arrest warrant was also issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2015. Gaddafi's son is accused of "murder and persecution".
He spent years underground in Zintan to avoid being killed after being released by the rebels in 2017 under an amnesty law. He has also been allowed to contact people in Libya and abroad since 2016.
After the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi's regime in 2011, Libya plunged into chaos and a long-running civil war between different centers of power. Wagner's Russian fighters intervened in the conflict on the side of General Khalifa Haftar, providing him with military support in his attempts to capture the capital Tripoli.
The mercenaries used heavy equipment, aircraft, and minefields, which significantly increased the number of civilian casualties. In addition to combat operations, Wagner's men took control of key oil facilities, ensuring Russia's economic interests in the region.
- On July 30, 2021, it was reported that the son of Gaddafi hinted at plans to run for president of Libya.
- On August 13, it became known that Saif al-Islam was threatened with arrest because of Wagner's ties to militants. At the time, the BBC wrote that Russia considered him the best candidate for the post of Libyan ruler.
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