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| Image: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi |
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of Libya’s former ruler Muammar Gaddafi, was shot dead at his residence in the western Libyan city of Zintan on Tuesday, local time, according to Libyan state media and his legal representatives.
Saif al-Islam, 53, was killed in the garden of his home after armed assailants forced their way into the property, disabled security cameras, and opened fire. His French lawyer told AFP that the identities and motives of the attackers remain unknown. Libyan media reported that at least four attackers were involved in the operation.
Once considered the most prominent heir to his father’s rule, Saif al-Islam had lived in Zintan for more than a decade following the collapse of the Gaddafi regime.
Born in 1972, Saif al-Islam earned an engineering degree from Al-Fateh University in Tripoli and later completed an MBA and PhD abroad.
During the Arab Spring uprising in 2011, he took a hardline stance in defense of his father’s regime and was later charged by the International Criminal Court with crimes against humanity.
Analysts say his killing underscores Libya’s continuing political fragmentation and fragile security environment more than a decade after the overthrow of the Gaddafi regime.