Seif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of Libya’s slain longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi and once viewed as his likely political heir, has been killed in an apparent assassination in western Libya, officials and close associates said.
The 53-year-old, who was wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged crimes against humanity and remained a symbolic figure in Libya’s fractured political landscape, was shot dead on Tuesday in the city of Zintan.
His lawyer, Marcel Ceccaldi, told AFP that Seif al-Islam was killed by an unidentified “four-man commando” who stormed his residence in the afternoon. His adviser, Abdullah Othman Abdurrahim, told Libyan media that the attackers disabled surveillance cameras before shooting him.
Libyan prosecutors confirmed on Wednesday that an investigation had been opened, saying preliminary findings showed the victim “died from gunshot wounds.”
Who was behind the killing?
Little is known about the assailants or their motives. No group has claimed responsibility, and authorities have yet to identify the attackers.
Analysts say the operation’s apparent precision has fueled speculation that the killing may have gone beyond local militia rivalries.
“The sophistication of the operation — multiple attackers, inside access, cameras disabled — points to foreign intelligence involvement rather than a spontaneous militia action,” said Anas El Gomati, head of the Tripoli-based Sadeq Institute.
Others suggest a local armed group in Zintan, where Seif al-Islam had long enjoyed protection, may have turned against him.
Why now?
The timing of the assassination has raised eyebrows among Libya watchers.
“He had been living a relatively quiet life away from the public eye for many years,” said Claudia Gazzini, a senior Libya analyst at the International Crisis Group, describing the timing as “odd.”
Seif al-Islam announced a bid for the presidency in 2021, but the election was indefinitely postponed and he had since made few public appearances. His whereabouts were largely unknown to the wider public, with only a small inner circle aware that he had been residing in Zintan.
The killing came just two days after a US-brokered meeting in Paris between Saddam Haftar, son of eastern Libya’s military strongman Khalifa Haftar, and Ibrahim Dbeibah, nephew of Tripoli-based Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah — a coincidence some analysts find striking.
Libya remains split between the UN-backed government in Tripoli and a rival administration in the east.
What Seif al-Islam represented
While experts differ on the extent of Seif al-Islam’s real political influence, there is broad agreement on his symbolic importance as the most prominent surviving figure of the pre-2011 Gaddafi era.
“Seif had become a cumbersome actor in Libyan politics,” said Hasni Abidi, director of the Geneva-based Centre for Studies and Research on the Arab and Mediterranean World. His death, Abidi argued, “benefits all political actors currently competing for power.”
Gomati said the killing “eliminates Libya’s last viable spoiler to the current power structure,” adding that Seif’s presence threatened both the Haftar camp and the Dbeibah-led government.
“The pro-Gaddafi nostalgia bloc now has no credible leader,” he said.
Others urged caution. Libya expert Jalel Harchaoui said Seif was not leading a cohesive political force, but acknowledged that his candidacy could still have altered Libya’s political calculus.
“His name alone on a presidential ballot would have had a significant impact,” Harchaoui said.
Public reaction
Across Libya, speculation over the killing has spread rapidly, with theories ranging from local power struggles to foreign intelligence operations.
For now, the assassination of Seif al-Islam Gaddafi adds another layer of uncertainty to Libya’s long-running instability — and removes one of its most controversial political symbols.
AFP
