Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the second son of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, has died from gunshot wounds in his home in the northwestern Libyan city of Zintan, Al Arabiya and CNN reported.
According to sources, the attackers broke into the residence and shot Saif al-Islam after it they immediately ran away. The 53-year-old man died at the scene of his injuries.
"Four masked assailants broke into Saif al-Islam Gaddafi's residence and turned off the surveillance cameras before fatally shooting him in a "treacherous and cowardly" attack," his political adviser, Abdullah Osman, said.
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi was once seen as the heir apparent to his dictator father — who was executed after the regime was overthrown at the height of the Arab Spring protests in 2011 — and in recent years has attempted to return to politics in Libya.
Recall that Saif al-Islam Gaddafi was the second son of Muammar Gaddafi, who ruled Libya from 1969 until his overthrow and death in 2011. He was educated abroad, including at the London School of Economics, and was fluent in English. Saif al-Islam Gaddafi was seen as a potentially more progressive figure than his father.
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi. Photo: alhadath
But on February 21, 2011, as protests spread across Libya, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi made a televised speech warning of civil war, chaos, and poverty if the uprising continued. In June 2011, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for both Saif al-Islam Gaddafi and his father for crimes against humanity committed during the suppression of the uprising.
After the fall of Tripoli, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi went into hiding for several months, but in November 2011 he was arrested in the western Libyan city of Zintan. He remained in custody there until June 2017. In November 2021, he re-entered the political arena, registering as a candidate in the Libyan presidential election. The elections were later postponed indefinitely.
According to CNN, in recent months, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi began preparing a "reconciliation proposal" for Libya.
Photo: lupa.bg
Recall that former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was killed on October 20, 2011 in his hometown of Sirte.
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