Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, Son of Former Libyan Leader, Reportedly Killed
Last update: February 4, 2026
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Conflicting accounts emerge over the death of the son of Libya’s former leader, once seen as his father’s political heir.
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of Libya’s former leader Col Muammar Gaddafi, has reportedly been shot dead, according to Libyan media.
The death of the 53-year-old was confirmed on Tuesday by the head of his political team, the Libyan News Agency reported. Saif al-Islam had long been viewed as his father’s heir apparent before the collapse of the Gaddafi regime.
His lawyer said a four-man commando unit carried out an assassination at his home in the city of Zintan, though it remains unclear who was behind the attack.
However, his sister offered a different account, telling Libyan television that he died near the country’s border with Algeria.
After his father, who ruled Libya from 1969 until he was overthrown and killed during the 2011 uprising, Saif al-Islam was widely regarded as one of the most influential and feared figures in the country.
Born in 1972, he played a central role in Libya’s rapprochement with the West from 2000 until the fall of the Gaddafi regime.
Despite holding no official government position, he shaped policy and led high-profile negotiations, including those that resulted in Libya abandoning its nuclear weapons programme.
The agreements led to the lifting of international sanctions, and some observers saw him as a reformist face of a changing Libya.
Following his father’s removal, Saif al-Islam was accused of playing a key role in the violent repression of anti-government protests. He was detained by a rival militia in Zintan, where he was held for nearly six years.
The International Criminal Court sought to put him on trial for crimes against humanity over his alleged role in suppressing protests in 2011. In 2015, a court in Tripoli sentenced him to death in absentia for his role in the crackdown. Two years later, he was released by a militia in eastern Libya under an amnesty law.
Since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi, Libya has remained deeply divided, with rival governments and competing militias controlling different parts of the country.
CBI News reports that Saif al-Islam consistently denied seeking to inherit power from his father, once saying leadership was “not a farm to inherit”. Nevertheless, in 2021 he announced his intention to run for the presidency, though the elections were later postponed indefinitely.
