Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of Libya’s former longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi, has reportedly been shot dead in the western city of Zintan, where he had been living for several years.
According to reports by Al Jazeera Arabic, the 53-year-old was killed on Tuesday under circumstances that remain unclear. An Al Jazeera correspondent in Libya, Ahmed Khalifa, said Saif al-Islam was believed to have been attacked and fatally shot in the city, where he had resided for nearly a decade.
His death was later confirmed by his political adviser, Abdullah Othman. However, details surrounding the identity of the assailants and the motive behind the killing have not yet been made public. Libyan authorities have also not issued any official statement on the incident.
Although he never held a formal government office, Saif al-Islam was widely regarded as his father’s closest confidant and political heir during the final years of Muammar Gaddafi’s rule, particularly between 2000 and 2011.
Muammar Gaddafi was killed in 2011 during Libya’s uprising, which ended his decades-long leadership. In the aftermath, Saif al-Islam was captured and detained by armed groups in Zintan, where he remained imprisoned until his release in 2017.