Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of Libya’s late leader, has been shot dead

The most prominent son of late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, has been killed, sources close to the family, his lawyer Khaled el-Zaydi and Libyan media said on Tuesday (3 February).

The office of Libya's attorney general on Wednesday (4 February) said investigators and forensic doctors examined the body of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi on Tuesday  (3 February) and determined that he died from gunshot wounds.

The attorney general’s office said it was working to identify suspects and take the necessary steps to bring a criminal case.

Once widely seen as his father’s heir apparent, Saif al-Islam played a prominent role in shaping policy before 2011, despite holding no formal government position.

He was involved in high-profile negotiations, including those that led Libya to abandon its nuclear weapons programme and prompted the lifting of international sanctions, with some viewing him as a reformist figure at the time.

His public profile faded after the 2011 uprising that ended Muammar Gaddafi’s rule. In 2015, a Libyan court sentenced him to death in absentia for his role in suppressing peaceful protests during the revolution.

Saif al-Islam has also been provisionally charged by the International Criminal Court with alleged crimes against humanity, a case his lawyers failed to dismiss.

Although he had long denied seeking to inherit power, saying leadership was “not a farm to inherit,” he registered as a presidential candidate in 2021. The election was later postponed indefinitely amid political deadlock.

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