Tripoli, (EFE).- Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was toppled in 2011, was assassinated on Tuesday by four individuals at his residence in Libya, according to his advisor and political team leader, Abdullah Otham.
Otham, who initially reported the death without specifying a cause, later told local outlet Al Ahrar that four armed men stormed Gaddafi’s home, disabled the alarm and surveillance systems, and «assassinated him.»
In a subsequent media post, Otham detailed that Gaddafi was killed in his home in Zintan, approximately 140 kilometers (87 miles) from Tripoli.
According to the statement, four masked men stormed the residence of Gaddafi, “attempted to turn off the cameras,” and attacked the late dictator’s son. He “engaged them in a direct” confrontation but was ultimately killed.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office has announced the formation of a commission that will travel to the scene of the attack. The team will investigate the circumstances of the attack and interrogate those close to the deceased to clarify the facts of the case.
Born in 1972, Saif al-Islam was long considered the chosen successor to his father, who ruled Libya for 42 years before being captured and killed during the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings.
In 2011, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Saif al-Islam for alleged crimes against humanity committed during the revolution that overthrew his father’s regime.
While a Tripoli court sentenced him to death in 2015 for using violence against protesters, the execution was never carried out, and rival Libyan authorities frequently challenged the validity of the sentence.
Most recently, the dictator’s son attempted a political comeback by filing his candidacy for the December 2021 presidential elections. However, electoral authorities rejected his bid, and the elections were ultimately suspended. EFE mak-sb/dmv
