Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the most prominent son of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, has been killed, according to officials and local media reports.

His lawyer Khaled al-Zaidi and political adviser Abdulla Othman confirmed the death in separate Facebook posts, but did not share further details.

Local outlet Fawasel Media quoted Othman as saying armed men attacked Gaddafi at his home in Zintan, around 136km southwest of Tripoli.

Later, Gaddafi’s political team said “four masked men” broke into the house and carried out a “cowardly and treacherous assassination”.

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The statement claimed Gaddafi resisted the attackers, who shut down security cameras in what was described as an attempt to hide evidence.

Khaled al-Mishri, former head of the High State Council, called for an “urgent and transparent investigation” into the killing.

Saif al-Islam never held an official post, but was seen as his father’s second-in-command from 2000 until the 2011 uprising that ended Muammar Gaddafi’s rule.

After the fall of Tripoli, he was captured while trying to flee Libya and was held in Zintan until his release under a general pardon in 2017.

Saif al Islam background:

Born in Tripoli in 1972, Saif al-Islam was Western-educated and once presented himself as a reformer, helping Libya reconnect with Western nations.

He played a key role in talks to abandon weapons of mass destruction and in compensation deals linked to the Lockerbie bombing.

However, during the 2011 revolt, he backed his father and became a leading voice of the crackdown, warning that “rivers of blood” would flow.

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He was later accused of torture and crimes against humanity, placed on UN sanctions, and sought by the International Criminal Court.

In 2021, his surprise bid for the presidency deepened political divisions and contributed to the collapse of Libya’s election process.