Seif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of Libya’s late longtime ruler, Moamer Gaddafi, has been killed by gunmen in his residence in western Libya, advisers and family sources confirmed on Tuesday.
According to Abdullah Othman Abdurrahim, an adviser to the Gaddafi family, four unidentified armed men stormed Seif al-Islam’s home after disabling surveillance cameras and shot him dead.
The attack reportedly occurred in Zintan, a town in northwestern Libya.
Confirming the incident, Seif al-Islam’s French lawyer, Marcel Ceccaldi, told AFP that his client was killed by what he described as a “four-man commando.”
He said the identity of the attackers remained unknown, adding that concerns had recently been raised about the security around the late Gaddafi’s residence.
Seif al-Islam, 53, had long been viewed as his father’s political heir and a central figure in Libya’s post-Gaddafi political calculations.
In 2021, he declared his intention to contest the country’s presidential election, although the polls were later postponed indefinitely.
Media reports said his exact whereabouts had remained unclear for years following his release from detention, but he was confirmed to have died in Zintan.
His cousin, Hamid Gaddafi, described his killing as a martyrdom during an interview with local media.
Although he held no formal government position under his father, Seif al-Islam was widely regarded as Libya’s de facto prime minister before the 2011 uprising, projecting an image of reform and moderation that later collapsed when he threatened violent suppression of protests.
He was arrested in November 2011 following an International Criminal Court warrant and was sentenced to death by a Tripoli court in 2015 before being granted amnesty.
Libya analyst Emadeddin Badi said the killing could significantly alter the country’s political landscape, potentially removing a major obstacle to future presidential elections while simultaneously elevating Seif al-Islam’s status among certain segments of the population.
Libya has remained politically fractured since the NATO-backed uprising that ousted Moamer Gaddafi in 2011, with rival administrations operating from Tripoli and eastern Libya.
