Authorities are investigating the killing of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, once seen as the de facto prime minister under his father’s iron-fisted rule.
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Published February 6, 2026
Thousands of people attended the funeral of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the most prominent son of late Libyan colonel Muammar Gaddafi, who was shot dead this week.
The burial took place on Friday in the town of Bani Walid, about 175 kilometers south of Tripoli.
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Nearly 15 years after Gaddafi was overthrown and killed in a NATO-backed uprising in 2011, thousands of supporters have turned out to mourn Gaddafi’s son, once seen as the former leader’s heir apparent.
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi was killed on Tuesday at his home in the northwestern city of Zintan. His office said in a statement that he died during a “direct confrontation” with four unidentified gunmen who had broken into his home.
Libya’s attorney general’s office said investigators and forensic scientists examined the 53-year-old man’s body and determined that he died from a gunshot wound, and that the attorney general’s office was working to identify the suspect.
“We came here to accompany our beloved, the son of a leader to whom we have entrusted our hopes and our future,” said Waad Ibrahim, a 33-year-old woman from Sirte, about 300 kilometers (186 miles) from Bani Walid.
divided country
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi was once described as the de facto prime minister under his father’s four-decade iron-fisted rule, cultivating an image of moderation and reform despite holding no official position.
He championed himself as a reformer, leading negotiations to get Libya to give up its weapons of mass destruction, and negotiated compensation for the families of those killed in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.
But that reputation quickly shattered after he promised “rivers of blood” in response to the 2011 riots, and he was arrested that year on a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court on suspicion of crimes against humanity.
He announced he would run for president in 2021, but the election, which aims to unite the divided country under a United Nations agreement, has been postponed indefinitely.
Currently, Libya remains divided between Tripoli-based Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah’s UN-backed government and the eastern government backed by Khalifa Haftar.
Gaddafi’s killing, seen by many as an alternative to the state’s monopoly on power, came less than a week after a Jan. 28 meeting at France’s Elysée Palace that brought together Haftar’s son and Dbeibah’s advisers.
