Saif al-Islam Son of Libya's former dictator Gaddafi killed
After the upheaval in Libya, Saif al-Islam was imprisoned. He disappeared for years and only reappeared in 2021 with great political ambitions. Now he is killed in his residence.
04.02.2026, 04:42
04.02.2026, 08:17
dpa
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- The Libyan dictator's son Saif al-Islam al-Gaddafi is dead, according to government officials.
- The son of Muammar al-Gaddafi, who was overthrown and killed in 2011, was killed in the city of Sintan, his political office said on Tuesday.
- Four masked men had stormed his residence in the western Libyan city of Sintan and then killed al-Islam.
- Saif al-Islam's lawyer Chaled al-Saidi confirmed the death of his client.
A prominent son of former long-term ruler Muammar al-Gaddafi has been killed in Libya. Saif al-Islam was "murdered" today in a "treacherous and cowardly" act, his political office announced. Four masked men had stormed his residence in the western Libyan city of Sintan and then killed al-Islam. His team mourned al-Islam, who had sacrificed his "life for the hope of a stable Libya". He said that "henchmen of the regime" in Libya were responsible.
Al-Islam's lawyer Chalid al-Saidi confirmed to the German Press Agency that the Gaddafi son had been "murdered". The news channel Al-Arabija reported, citing people close to the Gaddafi family, that the 53-year-old had been shot dead in the garden of his residence in Sintan.
There was speculation as to whether militias close to the government of Abdel Hamid Dbaiba in Tripoli could be behind the crime. A militia with links to the Ministry of Defense in Tripoli rejected as false claims that it was involved in the killing. Al-Islam is said to have made preparations for a return to politics, which would have posed a potential threat to Dbaiba and his allies.
One of the most influential figures in Libya
Saif al-Islam was the second eldest son of Muammar al-Gaddafi, who ruled the North African country for more than four decades, and one of the most influential figures in Libya. Before the overthrow and death of his father in 2011, al-Islam led a reform project with the aim of modernizing the country politically and bringing it closer to the West. However, many of the efforts were soon reversed in order not to shake the power structure in his father's government.
In 2011, Muammar al-Gaddafi was overthrown after months of mass protests and finally killed. Al-Islam had previously supported the brutal suppression of the protests. He was then caught by a militia while attempting to flee to Niger and was imprisoned in Sintan. According to his own statement, he spent several years there and had little contact with the outside world.
Candidacy for presidential election that never took place
Since 2014, the International Criminal Court has been demanding al-Islam's extradition in order to try him for crimes against humanity during the uprisings in Libya. In 2015, he was sentenced to death in absentia by a court in Libya's capital Tripoli. However, the rulers in Sintan neither had him transferred to Tripoli nor did they extradite him.
In 2021, al-Islam unexpectedly reappeared after a long absence and submitted his candidacy for the planned presidential election in Libya. However, this never took place due to a conflict over the constitutional basis and the eligible candidates. Today, Libya is effectively divided into two hostile governments in the east and west.
