Saif al-Islam Qaddafi, the son of Libya’s former ruler Muammar Qaddafi, has reportedly been shot dead.
The Libyan News Agency said on Tuesday that the head of his political team confirmed the death of the 53-year-old, who for years was viewed as his father’s heir apparent.
His lawyer told AFP that a “four-man commando" unit carried out an assassination at his home in the city of Zintan, though it remained unclear who was responsible. In a conflicting account, his sister told Libyan television that he had died near the border with Algeria.
Saif al-Islam Qaddafi was long considered the most influential and feared figure in Libya after his father, who ruled the country from 1969 until he was overthrown and killed during the 2011 uprising. Born in 1972, he played a central role in Libya’s outreach to the West from 2000 until the collapse of the regime.
Following his father’s fall, he was accused of helping direct the violent suppression of anti-government protests and was jailed for nearly six years by a rival militia in Zintan, before being freed under an amnesty in 2011.
The International Criminal Court sought to prosecute him for crimes against humanity for his alleged role in the 2011 crackdown, and in 2015 a Libyan court sentenced him to death in absentia.
He consistently denied seeking to inherit power, saying leadership was “not a farm to inherit." In 2021, he announced his candidacy for the presidency in elections that were later postponed indefinitely.
The Islamic State (ISIS) has capitalized on the disarray in Libya and spread the group's influence into the north African nation, establishing a stronghold in Sirte, Qaddafi’s hometown.