Seif al-Islam Kadhafi, the son of Libya’s late longtime ruler, Muammar Kadhafi, has been killed by gunmen, his adviser told the media on Tuesday, with relatives confirming his death.
Kadhafi is also spelled Gaddafi.
Abdullah Othman Abdurrahim told Al-Ahrar TV that Seif al-Islam was killed in his home by a group of four unidentified men.
“Four armed men stormed the residence of Seif al-Islam Kadhafi after disabling surveillance cameras and then executed him,” Abdurrahim was quoted as saying.
Further confirmation said the son of Libya’s former leader was killed on Tuesday by a “four-man commando” at his home in Zintan, western Libya, according to his French lawyer, Marcel Ceccaldi, who spoke to AFP.
“For now, we don’t know who was behind the killing,” Ceccaldi said, adding that he was informed about ten days ago by one of Seif al-Islam’s close associates that there were “problems with his security”.
Seif al-Islam, 53, had long been seen as his father’s potential successor.
In 2021, he announced his intention to run for president, but the elections were indefinitely postponed.
Media reports said he died in Zintan, in northwestern Libya, although his whereabouts had long remained unknown.
His cousin, Hamid Kadhafi, told Al-Ahrar TV that he had “fallen as a martyr”.
Although he held no official position under his father’s rule, Seif al-Islam was often described as Libya’s de facto prime minister and cultivated an image of moderation and reform before the 2011 Arab Spring uprising.
That reputation later collapsed when he threatened “rivers of blood” in response to the revolt.
He was arrested in November 2011 in southern Libya following a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
A Tripoli court later sentenced him to death in 2015 after a swift trial, but he was later granted amnesty.
Libya expert Emadeddin Badi said Seif al-Islam’s death was “likely to cast him as a martyr for a significant segment of the population, while also shifting electoral dynamics by removing a major obstacle to presidential elections”.
“His candidacy and potential success had been a central point of contention,” Badi wrote on X.
Muammar Kadhafi’s last spokesman, Moussa Ibrahim, also wrote on the social media platform: “They killed him treacherously. He wanted a united, sovereign Libya, safe for all its people.”
“I spoke with him two days ago. He spoke of nothing but a peaceful Libya and the safety of its people.”
Libya has struggled to recover from the chaos that followed the NATO-backed uprising in 2011, which overthrew longtime ruler Muammar Kadhafi.
The country remains divided between a UN-backed government based in Tripoli and an eastern administration allied with Khalifa Haftar.
AFP
