Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the most famous and influential son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, has been killed in Libya. As reported by Al Jazeera, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi’s lawyer, Khaled al-Zaidi, and his political adviser, Abdullah Abdurrahim Othman, confirmed the 53-year-old’s death in separate posts on Facebook on Tuesday, February 3.
The slain political figure’s lawyer told AFP that a ‘four-man masked commando’ unit carried out the assassination at his home in Zintan. However, it remains unclear those behind the attack.
Othman, who represented Gaddafi in the United Nations-brokered political dialogue, which aimed to resolve Libya’s long-running conflict, told Al-Ahrar TV that he is stunned by Seif al-Islam’s assassination. The attackers were said to have disabled surveillance cameras before carrying out the dastardly attack.
Othman disclosed: “Four armed men stormed the residence of Seif al-Islam Kadhafi after disabling surveillance cameras, then executed him.” Hamid Kadhafi, Gaddafi Jr’s cousin, told Al-Ahrar TV the assassinated politician had “fallen as a martyr”. The trending X photo of the slain politician circulated on social media after the attack.
Gaddafi, 53, had been seen as his father’s successor. In 2021, he announced he would run for president, but those elections were indefinitely postponed.
While he held no official position in the North African country under his father’s rule, he had been described as Libya’s de facto prime minister, cultivating an image of moderation and reform before the 2011 Arab Spring revolt. But that reputation soon collapsed when he promised “rivers of blood” amid the uprisings. He was arrested in November 2011 in southern Libya under a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
In 2015, he was sentenced to death following a swift trial but was later granted amnesty. Seif al-Islam Gaddafi, seen as the reformist face of the Gaddafi regime, is an alumnus of the popular London School of Economics.
Born in June 1972 in Tripoli, Seif al-Islam was the second-born son of the longtime dictator. He studied for a PhD at the London School of Economics (LSE) and was seen as the reformist face of the Gaddafi regime.
After earning his certification from LSE in 2008, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi emerged as a prominent, “pro-Western” figure for his father’s regime, leading diplomatic initiatives. He also oversaw the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation, an NGO focused on humanitarian aid and relief efforts. Saif Al-Islam called himself ‘a reformer’, and campaigned for a Libyan constitution and respect for human rights.
legit.ng
