Seif al-Islam al-Qaddafi, the son of the late Libyan dictator Muammar al-Qaddafi, was reportedly killed by “four masked men,” according to his team.
The 53-year-old was killed in the town of Zintan, southwest of the country’s capital Tripoli, according to sources. The Associated Presswhich quoted Libya’s chief prosecutor. The office said he had been shot, but provided no further details, according to the AP. Additionally, the outlet said that Khaled al-Zaidi, a lawyer for Seif al-Islam, confirmed his death on Facebook.
The “masked men” allegedly stormed Seif al-Islam’s home and killed him in a “cowardly and treacherous murder,” the AP reported, citing Seif al-Islam’s team. The team also claimed in its statement that the attackers closed the CCTV cameras at the house “in a desperate attempt to hide traces of their heinous crimes,” according to the AP.
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Portrait of Seif al-Islam al-Qaddafi. He is the second son of the late Libyan dictator Muammar al-Qaddafi and his second wife, Safia Farkash. (Jason Florio/Corbis via Getty Images)
Born in 1972, Seif al-Islam was the second son of longtime dictator al-Qaddafi. He was educated at the London School of Economics, where he studied for a Ph.D.
Seif al-Islam al-Qaddafi is seen after his capture in the custody of revolutionary fighters in Zintan, Libya, November 19, 2011. (AP Photo/Ammar El-Darwish, file)
Seif al-Islam, who was seen by many as the face of Libya to the West, has been described as the country’s most influential man despite holding no official position. He led talks on giving up weapons of mass destruction in Libya and negotiated compensation for the loved ones of those killed in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. Reuters reported this.
Muammar al-Qaddafi, who had ruled Libya since 1969, was overthrown and killed during a NATO-backed popular uprising in 2011. The uprising led to a civil war and the country has since become divided between rival armed groups and militias, the AP said. In late 2011, Seif al-Islam was captured by fighters as he tried to flee to Niger and was later released in June 2017 when one of Libya’s rival governments granted him amnesty, the AP said.
A member of Libya’s pro-government forces stands in front of the ruins of a shopping center in Benghazi, Libya, May 21, 2015. (Stringer/Reuters)
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In November 2021, Seif al-Islam announced his candidacy for the country’s presidential elections, but was ultimately disqualified by Libya’s Supreme National Election Commission, the AP reported.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
