Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

by Oui Wed Feb 4th, 2026 at 04:19:34 AM EST

The pro-Western alternative to his father was murdered ... 15 years after NATO military with US support exploited the protest in oil rich Eastern province.

#SaifAl-IslamGaddafi is believed to have shot and killed in the western Libyan city of Zintan, where he has been based for the past decade. The killing of the 53-year-old was confirmed, but the attackers and circumstanes of the killing are as yet unknown. [_link]
— Asad Ali Toor (@AsadAToor) February 3, 2026

Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam killed in armed attack in Libya
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the most prominent son of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, has been killed in Libya, according to statements by his lawyer and political adviser, as well as local media reports.
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi was killed at his home in Zintan, aides say, prompting calls for an urgent investigation amid Libya's ongoing political instability.
His lawyer, Khaled al-Zaidi, and political adviser Abdulla Othman separately announced the death of the 53-year-old on social media on Tuesday, February 3, without disclosing further details.
Libyan outlet Fawasel Media quoted Othman as saying that armed men attacked Gaddafi at his residence in the town of Zintan, around 136 kilometres southwest of Tripoli.

The mystery rescue of Dutch Royal Mabel Wisse Smit, courting a friendly Saif before the West turned on his father.

A Divided Libya Burns as Gaddafi’s Son Saif is Assassinated

The son of Libya's former dictator Muammar Gaddafi has just been assassinated. Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the man who was once groomed to lead Libya and who survived fifteen years of chaos after his father's regime collapsed, was shot dead by four masked men who broke into his house in Zintan on February 3rd, 2026. No group has claimed responsibility, and in a country where two rival governments fight for power while foreign nations pull the strings, finding out who ordered the killing might be impossible. This wasn't just any political figure. Saif al-Islam held a doctorate from one of Britain's top universities. He negotiated nuclear disarmament deals with the United States.

He spent six years locked in solitary confinement. He survived a death sentence and tried to run for president in 2021, positioning himself as the man who could reunify a country that's been torn apart by civil war since 2011.
He made it through NATO airstrikes, rebel armies hunting him across the desert, international arrest warrants, and more than a decade of people trying to kill him. He outlasted almost everyone from his father's inner circle. Then someone got to him in the same mountain town that had been sheltering him since he was captured fourteen years ago. Who ordered it, why it happened now, and what it means for Libya's fractured political landscape are questions with no clear answers yet.

Despite being dead for 13 years, Gaddafi is still a commanding figure in Libya | MEMO - Oct. 2024 |

Trabelsi: Instructions issued to the Bani Walid Security Directorate to secure Saif al-Islam Gaddafi's funeral | Alwasat |
The Interior Minister for the Government of National Unit, Imad Trabelsi, announced on Thursday that he had issued instructions to the Bani Walid Security Directorate and other regional directorates to secure the funeral of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, scheduled for Friday, and to provide all necessary requirements.
Trabelsi offered his condolences to Saif's al-Islam's family, tribe, and loved ones, noting that he had issued instructions “in complete secrecy” to the relevant authorities in the ministry, in cooperation with the Attorney General's Office, to follow up on the investigation into the assassination, explaining that the investigation is ongoing to uncover the circumstances of the incident and apprehend the perpetrators.
He emphasized that “the Libyan people are one people, and we ask God to unite us and bring us together in harmony.”
Trabelsi wrote: “We ask God Almighty to accept the deceased into His mercy and grace, to inspire his family and loved ones with patience and solace, to protect Libya and its people, to unite its children in goodness, justice, and stability, and to help them overcome the pain of the past and build a future based on mercy, fairness, and comprehensive reconciliation.”

Slain son of former Libya ruler Qaddafi to be buried near capital in Qaddafi stronghold Bani Walid, south of Tripoli.