Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of Libya’s late leader Muammar Gaddafi, has reportedly died after being shot, sparking conflicting reports over the circumstances of his death.
The 53-year-old’s passing was confirmed on Tuesday by the head of his political team, according to the Libyan News Agency. His lawyer told the AFP news service that a “four-man commando” unit carried out an attack at his home in Zintan, though no one has claimed responsibility.
Adding to the uncertainty, his sister told Libyan television that he had died near the border with Algeria. Officials have yet to reconcile these different accounts.
Saif al-Islam had been one of Libya’s most influential figures following the overthrow and death of his father, who ruled from 1969 until the 2011 uprising.
Born in 1972, he became a central figure in Libya’s outreach to Western countries in the early 2000s and helped negotiate agreements that eventually led to the abandonment of Libya’s nuclear weapons program and the lifting of international sanctions.
Despite holding no official position, he shaped key policies and led negotiations for the Gaddafi government, earning a reputation as a cautious yet influential strategist.
Some observers described him as a reformist face of the regime during the later years of his father’s rule.
After the fall of the Gaddafi government, he was captured by a rival militia in Zintan and held for nearly six years. The International Criminal Court sought to try him for crimes against humanity over the 2011 crackdown on anti-government protests, and in 2015, a Libyan court sentenced him to death in absentia.
Throughout his life, Saif al-Islam denied seeking to inherit power from his father, stating that leadership was “not a farm to inherit.” In 2021, he announced his intention to run for the presidency, but elections were indefinitely postponed, leaving his political ambitions unresolved until reports of his death emerged.
