Libyan prosecutors say they have opened an investigation into the killing of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of former leader Muammar Gaddafi, after reports that he was shot during an attack on his home in the western city of Zintan.
Read also: Gaddafi’s son, Saif al-Islam, killed by gunshot in Libya
In a statement on Wednesday, the public prosecutor’s office said Saif al-Islam, 53, died from gunshot wounds after what it described as a confrontation with four unknown gunmen who forced their way into his residence. Forensic teams have been sent to Zintan to examine the scene and identify those responsible.
“The victim died from wounds caused by gunfire,” the prosecutors said, adding that efforts were underway to track down the attackers.
Other accounts have raised questions about the circumstances of his death. Al-Islam’s sister told Libyan television that he died near the country’s border with Algeria. In contrast, his lawyer told the AFP news agency that a four-man commando unit assassinated him at his home in Zintan. No group has claimed responsibility.
Read also: Turkey eyes oil exploration in Bulgaria, Iraq, Libya
Al Islam was for years seen as the most powerful figure in Libya after his father, who ruled the country from 1969 until he was overthrown and killed during the 2011 uprising. Born in 1972, he became the public face of Libya’s efforts to rebuild ties with Western countries in the early 2000s. He played a key role in negotiations that led Tripoli to abandon its nuclear weapons programme.
After the fall of the Gaddafi regime, al-Islam was captured by a militia in Zintan and held for almost six years. He was accused of helping to direct the violent suppression of anti-government protests and was sought by the International Criminal Court on charges of crimes against humanity. In 2015, a court in Tripoli sentenced him to death in absentia, before he was released in the east of the country under an amnesty law two years later.
Libyan journalist Abdulkader Assad said al-Islam’s name still carried weight in a fractured country where power is shared among rival armed groups.
Read also: What French giant Carrefour’s arrival says about Ethiopia’s retail liberalisation
“He may have been targeted by locals who felt their political influence was being threatened by his popularity,” Assad told the BBC’s Newsday programme. “It could also be that foreign actors took him out because of his controversial past.”
The journalist John Simpson, who attended al-Islam’s trial in Zintan, recalled a man confident in his ability to survive captivity.
“He had great faith in his negotiating skills and his personal charm, and he managed to win over his captors, who eventually freed him,” Simpson said. “But the loathing many Libyans felt for his father extended to him, and that may have brought about his death.”
Since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi, Libya has remained deeply divided, with competing governments and militias controlling different parts of the country. Prosecutors say their investigation is continuing as uncertainty surrounds the final hours of one of the most controversial figures of the post 2011 era.
