Libyas Saif al-Islam Gaddafi: A Profile of the Elusive Son of Muammar

Libyan Leader’s Son Found Dead in Western City

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, 53, has been confirmed dead by figures close to him in the western city of Zintan. The location is where he had been based since 2011, initially in prison and later as a free man. His death was confirmed on Tuesday, although the exact circumstances are still unclear.

Saif al-Islam was Gaddafi’s second son and held significant influence throughout Libya’s turmoil following the Arab Spring uprising. He was seen by many before 2011 as his father’s potential successor and remained prominent during the violence that followed. In June 2011, he announced that his father would hold elections if he did not win them, but NATO rejected the offer.

Saif al-Islam had been on a United Nations sanctions list since February 2011 and was banned from traveling. The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against him in June 2011, which remained in effect until after his father’s death and brother Mutassim’s in October 2011.

Following negotiations with the ICC, Libyan officials were granted authority to try Saif al-Islam in Libya for war crimes committed during the 2011 uprising. He appeared via videolink in a Tripoli courtroom in 2014 and was sentenced to death in absentia. However, he was released by a militia in Zintan in 2017 as part of an amnesty issued by eastern Libyan authorities.

Saif al-Islam made his first public appearance in years in November 2021, filing to run for the Libyan presidency. He had been wanted by the ICC and gave a rare interview to The New York Times in July 2021, accusing authorities in Libya of being “afraid of elections”.

Source: Al Jazeera