Libya Probes Killing Of Late President Gaddafi’s Son Seif Al-Islam

Libyan prosecutors have launched an investigation into the killing of Seif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who was shot dead in the city of Zintan, officials said on Wednesday.

In a statement, Libya’s Public Prosecutor’s Office disclosed that forensic experts had been deployed to Zintan, in the country’s northwest, where the incident occurred. The office said efforts were ongoing to identify and apprehend those responsible.

“The victim died from wounds by gunfire,” the statement said, adding that investigators were seeking to “speak to witnesses and anyone who may be able to shed light on the incident.”

A lawyer to Seif al-Islam, Marcel Ceccaldi, told AFP that his client was killed by an unidentified “four-man commando” who stormed his residence in Zintan on Tuesday.

Libya has remained mired in instability since a NATO-backed uprising in 2011 toppled and killed longtime President Muammar Gaddafi. More than a decade later, the country is still fractured between a United Nations-backed government based in Tripoli and an eastern administration allied with military strongman Khalifa Haftar.

Neither of the rival authorities has issued an official statement on Seif al-Islam’s death.

The only public reaction so far came from Moussa al-Kouni, vice-president of Libya’s Presidential Council representing the Fezzan region.

“No to political assassinations, no to achieving demands by force, and no to violence as a language or a means of expression,” al-Kouni wrote on X.

The killing adds to concerns over persistent insecurity and political violence in Libya, as rival factions continue to vie for power amid fragile peace efforts.